Over the last couple weeks, the rhetoric surrounding the mega-technology companies is heating up. This is something that many foresaw and it is not likely to quietly go away.
It could be said that this battle took on new meaning when Epic Games decided to pick a fight with Apple and Google. The issue was the dropping of Fortnight from those platforms. This only showed the power that those two companies wield, something that got the attention of the U.S. Congress.
Of course, we have the ongoing issue with Twitter and Facebook. Since it is election season, many feel that a certain point of view is being silenced. At the same time, a lot more are wondering about Facebook's impact on the election since it has, by far, the greatest social media influence. Even those who agree with the silencing of the opposing view have to wonder how much brainwashing (programming) they are receiving.
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This has spurred a flurry of articles making the rounds on the crypto news sites. Many are beginning to wonder what impact this will have on blockchain and decentralized media. It is a valid through process since we know something is going to have to replace the existing structure if it is torn down.
Personally, this looks to me like a lurch forward in the eventual demise of the present social media platforms. It will take some time but the outcome is evident. They simply cannot appease all those who have an interest.
In short, companies such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter are in no-win situations. Regardless of the path they take, they are going to upset some part of the population. For example, if they sit back and let all content be posted, they get in trouble with the regulators since much of what could be posted would violate some law. On the other hand, when they do start to "police" their platforms, the charges of censorship take place (and usually it is rightly so since they tend to go political/agenda on people).
The threats from the regulators and Congress do not have much weight behind it at this point. The United States, over the last 30 years, has basically stood back and let monopolies arise without lifting a finger. Few mergers were blocked over that time based upon anti-trust, something that allowed the forming of monopolies in many industries. Thus, unless there is a major shift in sentiment, it is unlikely this amounts to anything.
Where it does have an impact is in the conversation. When something like this makes the headlines, people start talking, This gets the conversation going in a manner that is not to the benefit of the these platforms. They would rather it go away and everyone return to arguing with each other.
Here is where the opportunity can enter. Many believe that these platforms are cooked simply because they cannot transition to the Web 3.0 model that is being constructed. This has long term implications, something that the present dialogue could speed up.
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Social media platforms that are not centralized will offer a valuable service to the masses down the road. At the top of the list is not even what people are espousing now: lack of censorship. Quite frankly, that is something few care about.
There is an issue that is of growing importance each day. It is one of decentralized data. The centralized entities have shown the complete inability to protect anyone's data. At the same time, in the social media realm, this data (content) is taken and sold, providing billions for the platform while the users get little (or none) of the proceeds.
Blockchain, at its very essence, offers the ability to have data that is not centralized. Any blockchain that is run by block validators, regardless of the mechanism, spreads the data among computers located all over the world. This is a major breakthrough compared to what we have now.
Naturally, at this point, we are not talking privacy since blockchain data is open for all to see. However, it is laying the foundation for what will eventually be developed. There will come a time when we will see a Digital ID system created that houses one's data in a manner where he or she is in full control of it. That day, is still down the road.
Ultimately, the world of blockchain and digital assets is only picking up steam. Just yesterday, there was an article detailing how Christies sold a digital portrait for $130,000. Essentially, this was a NFT.
https://decrypt.co/44239/christies-auctions-off-its-first-ever-nft-for-record-131250
Many still believe that the world of blockchain should explode overnight. We see it on Hive with people complaining about the token price and fretting about how nothing is happening. Many believe that the coin has no value since it is a "utility" token.
This is a sad outlook and, in my opinion, completely misses what is taking place. With all that is going on in the digital world, utility will have tremendous value. The reality is development, on all levels, takes time. We are erecting a completely new system that is going to revolutionize finance, medicine, social media, gaming, and governance. Compared to the Internet, this task is as large, if not larger.
Sometimes one's own enemies can be his or her greatest allies. In this instance, the existing social media companies are taking actions that will drive people away from their platforms. This is not going to be huge numbers at first, yet it will start to have an impact over the next few years.
After all, if a few hundred million move from the present social media sites onto blockchain, that is a huge boost to the entire ecosystem. Imagine what the network effect will be at that point.
It is all starting to build up just like it always does. Blockchain and cryptocurrency are following the traditional path of technological development and adoption.
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It is wrong and a show of ignorance to judge a crypto project by its price. Judgement should be based on the tech and developments surrounding the token.
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People majorly don't care about what happens to their data and this is this most painful part. It's such a Shame that these centralised entities uses people's information, sells them and the worst is not even giving them an opportunity to benefit from theses monies. Take Facebook for example, all the money it generates hardly enriches anyone. I made a search on Google once about a product and Facebook kept on Showing me ads about that particular product.
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I was reading Facebooks response to the Netflix doco "Social Dilemma". Their argument is the revenue they earn from people on their platform is used to ensure the platform stays free for use to everyone.
I deleted my facebook account month ago, I have withdrawals LOL
They're really crazy for saying that. So if they don't make it free how will they maintain their users?
Subscription.
And to prove that point if you go to YouTube these days you will get the message for subscription so you don't have to watch ads.
Hence before Justin Sun got involved with Steem. The ads appearing on Steemit website higlighted to me the slow degradation of the platform prior to takeover. Highlights the need for money.
Twitter looks to be embracing Bitcoin. However, Goog and Facebook don’t care for it. They’ll either embrace blockchain or get left behind.
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That might be true but I wonder how Twitter is going to alter its business model, being a publicly traded company. All business models are now set up to benefit the stockholders.
It puts these companies in a tough situation since they cannot easily shift into the Web 3.0 framework.
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Twitter founder is a big supporter of Bitcoin, i don't know about the rest. imagine if they took advantage of blockchain to accept coins like Bitcoin as payment for ad and other services, that would be a huge growth. sm1 needs to call the attention of these big tech companies to start partnering with good cryptocurrency payment gateway, the likes of Nowpayments https://nowpayments.io
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This is a very good finding:
I think they will try to slow this process down as much as possible.
Basically, as I understand it, the large social media can choose to abstain from censoring and enjoy being exempt from liability, or censor and leave themselves open to being considered to be "publishers" and thus leaving themselves vulnerable to being sued as a consequence for any questionable content they allow to be published (or just miss).
For the life of me I cannot understand why anyone of them would choose the later. 🤔
The NYT published a fairly good run down here.
Edit: congrats on another top trending post!
yeah man they got power there like the king of today tech you know what I mean right?
and I think utility token's have lot of potential now there might be not many buy sell going on but as more people trade these token there gonna be worth it
Certianly, time is a crucial factor for the evolution of blockchain technology. Innovation adoption has never been very fast over the years, it won't get different with blockchain and crypto. There is need for patience while aggressively marketing and educating the people.
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Both Facebook and Google are centralized platforms, this means that the profits generated by both companies take the effort of all of us who use them, and the profit is always nothing. While it is true that both platforms work thanks to all of us and we have to add to this the ads that they present to you, the truth is that everything is for business, no matter how much entertainment they offer us, there will always be some hidden monopoly that favors them. Thank you for sharing your opinion with us. Greetings.
I think that the situation in the world, the economic crisis will accelerate the road to the world of blockchain. People will run away on social media for blockchain and bitcoin. More and more people are rubbing their eyes and seeing the slander on the Facebook page. Once they get banned for free speech, they will quickly look for platforms like hive.
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