This is my first post here, even though I've been fascinated with Steemit/STEEM and talking about it for a while. My bio and background can be found here. Most recently I am a founder and Chief Investment Officer of The Crypto Company, and naturally I do a lot of speaking and writing about blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
I am preparing to do a talk at TEDxCharltottesville on November 3rd. Here's the general gist of the talk:
"In the same way that the open source movement created new possibilities for collaborative software development, the blockchain and cryptocurrencies are powering open source business development. Ultimately, this could mean the end of traditional corporate structures, the demise of centralized platforms like Google and Facebook, and a radical remaking of business as we know it."
Here's a recent talk I gave where I discuss STEEM:
Living Economy Salon:
The purpose of this post is twofold:
- Learn by doing... I want to experience what it's like to participate on Steemit
- Get your feedback on how to make the TED talk really compelling
On this second point, I'm open to suggestions of all sorts, including what I may not understand about this community or the currencies associated with it, what other cryptos/DAOs/decentralized platforms I should be looking at and including in the talk, etc.
Thanks you in advance, and thank you for reading!
Dear Rafe,
I became aware of you through your recent article in HuffPost. Thanks for being the only investor with whom I closely agree with: Dash, Steem and Ethereum (well, after you research EOS, you might be changing).
As far as you giving a TED Talk on Steem, there are a few very important things to include, and they go back to why Steem was invented and the structure which dominates the system.
Steem is a Delegated Proof of Stake system which was invented by @dan Dan Larimer. I asked him recently if he invented this DPOS new system and he confirmed that. It's a refinement of the wasteful Bitcoin mining POW model. Now, I'm only talking about the genesis ideas for DPOS. Ned Scott and Dan Larimer co-founded Steemit, and Ned is still the CEO, running operations. Dan has moved to CTO of EOS, which is another DPOS system.
This means that Delegated Proof of Stake did not exist before him. Most people are not aware that he is the inventor of this. If you don't understand DPOS (Delegated Proof of Stake) please read from Dan's original blog that defines it: https://bytemaster.github.io/article/2015/01/07/The-Most-Decentralized-Proof-of-Stake-System/
In fact, Dan's blog, Bytemaster Blog contains the many beautiful idea gems that gave birth to Bitshares, Steem and EOS (a blockchain operating system). All of these systems can be considered refinements of the previous. EOS is designed so that people can develop applications on top of it.
The important thing to realize about Steem is that it is a Delegated Proof of Stake system in which 20 Witnesses run the blockchain. These witnesses are chose by us, the community. If a Witness is acting bad, we remove our vote. Many Witnesses have come and gone, and the more good work you do, in the eyes of those who vote (and who have high SP), the more likely you will be chosen as a Witness. If you want to understand how the meritocracy aspect has played out, look no further than @timcliff who started out as just a very impassioned user. He was already a software dev, but he was not a Witness. He ended up being the one who communicated between the community and the devs. It took him a long time to become a Witness, but because he was dedicated to Steem community, he rose up in the ranks. Now he's way up there.
Also, you must also realize that Steem is closer to a virtual world. Departments have popped up that users created, and @steemcleaners and @spaminator are examples. We have @sherlockholmes who is a detective in here, investigated scams, fraud and other accounts which are doing underhanded things.
There are a vast number of other platforms like Steemit, which are all powered by the Steem blockchain. Steemit is only one. There is busy.org, DTube (YouTube competitor), eSteem (mobile app), ChainBB, and too many others to list. There's an entire Steem Wikipedia which catalogs the entire history of Steem.
In fact, the amount of information is vast beyond anyone's grasp of it. But I will link you to Steem.Center, because it contains all the definitions of everything Steem related.
Feel free to reach out to me if you have some more specific questions. I am on Steemit Chat....also on Skype as haizarahaizara
@stellabelle I am especially grateful for all of your ideas, pointers and encouragement... a few followup questions:
Why do people want to become Steem Witnesses and what are the upsides and downsides?
I notice on the Whales list a couple of exchanges like polo and bittrex appear. Are these the actual exchanges? How do we know? What are we to make of the amount of currency they hold?
Are there any people who are making a solid living just through Steemit?
(these are open questions of course to anyone who wants to answer)
Yes. I and my friend @ogochukwu from Nigeria, this platform has been of great help. He recently bought a Hp laptop from money gotten from Steemit. and so many other like us.
you can get more info about your questions if you check out steemit white paper. Its a 44 page presentation about steemit. you are welcome.
@arizonawise
Dear Steemians, I am blown away by the depth and level of engagement of this community. Thank you for showing me the rabbit hole and welcoming me down:-)
Hey rafe love ted! Heres a link you might find interesting for your talk, its a collection of one line sentences made by the crypto community, i beleive that there is still a few lines left, would be even better if you decided to take a line and add it to your speech?
https://steemit.com/steemit/@teamhumble/steemgig-steemit-crowdsourced-video-1-only-15-lines-left-to-go-increasing-to-2-steem-per-line-one-person-per-line-to-get-done-in
Wow @daniel82 i saw you took part in the project .
I did submit my line too yesterday.
It is an awesome project to participate in.
yeah that's a good idea. take part rafe! :)
Here is a topic you likely could make for a compelling discussion.
Censorship Free Platform = PizzaGate Could Not Be Censored
The term "fake news" was almost birthed at the same time as PizzaGate to try and debunk a very real scandal. Reddit closed down the R/PizzaGate thread and removed all the research. Then the researchers had to move elsewhere and they went to VOAT, however the moderators at VOAT remove posts all the time and censor content under PizzaGate especially. So the only place that was a social media platform that did not censor PizzaGate because of the blockchain was and still is Steemit. So as we move forward in the future, and platforms like Google and Facebook are more and more censored and controlled, real factual alternate news will rely on block chain technology to ensure the information is put out on the internet and not censored. This will not only ensure our information is not censored as alternative news journalists, but also whistle blowers will be able to directly release their information and ensure it is not censored by posting it on the block chain, it will make "leaking sites" irrelevant. In the future declaring something Fake News and forcing Facebook and Google to censor the content will no longer work for the powers that should not be, the information will be on the block chain and uncensorable.
@winstonwolfe did a great crowd-sourced video last year.
One second from each contributor.
Great vid!
Good luck with the talk if you need to chat about first feel free to connect with me on Twitter. I have written every day on this platform for 13 months.
Amazing!
So what's your experience been in doing so?
How does it make you feel?
Is it what you expected?
What are the economic implications for you?
What are the non-economic benefits/costs?
What should I be asking you? :-)
This is a fantastic initiative and it would be great for more people to learn about steemit and its culture. I believe making sure the audience has a good ground on what crypto is and blockchain is a start!
Do mention the importance of accumulating Steem Power.
Those of us on Steemit think most about Steemit.com as a blogging platform but, in the long run, other uses of the Steem blockchain may prove to be even more important.
i think that is really important, accumulating steem power
Great initiative!
Thank you for this and Welcome.
Please, keep us updated on this TEDx Talk.
Bots are obviously an issue on the platform but it appears that it was partly self-contained by the community.
I'm open to a conversation about how this place can create amazing communities in lightening speed.
Welcome to Steem @rafefurst I have upvoted and sent you a tip
What up botty, always upvoting the great content I see, keep on being a good little bot @bottymcbotface!
Thank you!
Here's the Steem Wiki: https://www.steem.center/index.php?title=Main_Page
Thanks for this...never thought about Wiki for Steem...cool! The minnows appreciate all of the ethical guidance we can get.
Peace!
Tedx Talk would do wonders to Steemit.
It will increase our visibility.
You need to take a few days here to learn how Steemit works .
This can be achieved by
You also need to get in touch with a few influencial people here like
@stellabelle @roelandp @stephenkendal @joseph @jerrybanfield @cryptoctopus @surpassinggoogle
You can start with those people and am sure they will help you out.
Welcome to the awesome community.
A decentralized search engine doesn't make much sense. The big businesses will have to adapt
And here's a comprehensive list of all the Steem Tools, which are all the applications that developers have created so far: http://steemtools.com/
One last thing. The most important tool (imo), is Steem Whales because it allows you to visualize all the data, including whose account is the largest, who has earned the most Steem from blogging, and who has the most followers. You see, everyone's wallet is viewable to everyone. So, even though Steem doesn't care about your personal data (meaning unlike Facebook which wants to all your private data), it cares about transparency, so all your financial transactions are visible and can be investigated by anyone. Everyone knows who sends money to whom, so in this way some fraud cases can be uncovered.
Start your rabbit hole here: https://steemwhales.com/
The way I see it is that Steemit has created a whole new ecosystem on the Internet. And the users are it citizens. There are Social, political and environmental experiments taking place using the tools of the system to create a better place where everyone can thrive and maybe just maybe have an influence on the real world. Unlike other blockchain technologies this one is very much up and running and used day to day by real people. 300000 last I heard. These are just my two cents as a relatively new excited user.
300,000+ accounts, but no one knows how many bots and duplicate accounts that is.....I would guess that there are at least 10,000+ bots plus duplicates accounts......more likely.
Where can you see that number?
Can't remember where exactly I heard it but it should be easy to find. Maybe steemd?
Probably true and I find it a bit sad. It look as though, like in the real world, we want to create AI. One day they may take over and in the end if we're not careful Steemit will just be a collection of bots upvoting each other.
That sounds like it will be a cool talk. I think Steemit can offer all sorts of oppunities. It initially looks like just a blogging platform, but it can also be used for commerce. People are already setting up services, e.g. video streaming, where they take a cut of any rewards. It's got a few issues with spam and abuse, but they are a risk when there is no central moderation. It's up to the community to deal with these. Stellabelle covers the main points.
I'm just a casual blogger who is having fun here, but I've managed to earn a nice bit of extra income.
One thing I might suggest is don't be afraid of talking about the challenges and/or shortfalls of Steemit. I personally am more likely to try out something when someone honestly lays out the pros and cons as opposed to when someone is rah rah rah.
I see with many new platforms be it VidMe, Steemit or anything else people are all this is the best thing ever and are scared to criticize it or point out shortfalls.
I would mention things like it being hard to get started for new people, but hedge that by saying thats true of any platform be it Youtube, Instagram.
I would talk about how we need more diversity of content and invite others on here to provide that. Many people who dont use the site or tried it and didn't like it find it insular ie too much talk about steemit itself.
So good chance! Wanna see that TedX!
nice initiative :-)!!!
This post has received a 20.23 % upvote from @buildawhale thanks to: @raphavongal. Send 0.100 or more SBD to @buildawhale with a post link in the memo field to bid on the next vote.
To support our curation initiative, please vote on my owner, @themarkymark, as a Steem Witness
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STOPI think it would be important to note that steemit is about much more than the money side. There is the social side as well. Look at the new feed, and see how many countries have standing here. I have found people to follow all over the world. Most of them seem to be real people, have real problems, and want to be a solution to Global problems and not be a part of the problem.
Unlike most social media where the number of friends you have the number of thumbs up you have dictate if someone will want to be your fake friend, on steemit, it does not seem to be that way. I have had people with amazingly high reputation 65-75 range actually take the time to make comments on some of my inane comments,(and nice ones at that).
I have met so many amazing people on here through comments,(not in real life,who can afford to go to Nigeria,(@greenrun), or Kazakhstan,(@neonartist), not me), and through their artwork that I am really enjoying the social aspect of steemit.
You have at least 3 weeks to see, learn, and enjoy steemit before the talk, I think you will find a lot of people here to help you discover steemit , and all it's Global potential.
Welcome to Steemit! A link to your profile was included in the Steem.center wiki page In the news. Thanks and good luck again!
Hi, one idea for making a compelling presentation is by watching your body language, here's a link to a TedTalks by Amy Cuddy. I've coached a competitive robotics club for kids who often must present their projects before judges, her ideas really help them with confident speaking/presenting. The first time they tried "getting big" before a competition, they came home with a 2nd place in our state for project presentation.
Also, one interesting tidbit I discovered not long after my first post a few weeks ago, is after the first day (or two?) you can not edit or delete your posts in Steemit. At all. This was a surprise to me and possibly many other bloggers/writers who join Steemit. Now you have to really push for high quality the first time around :)
https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are
Not sure how to help you prepare for a TED talk but I do think its badass you will be giving one! Good on ya!
One consideration is how much of a threat Steemit is to Facebook, and nobody see's it coming, I often wondered what the next Facebook would be, and I believe this is it, and how sweet to be an early adopter :)
Good Luck!
F&UV
You may want to check out @stan. Some of the best posts I have seen, mostly about Bitshares, but good
You need to look at this post if you have not already. It is by@stellabelle https://steemit.com/steem/@stellabelle/did-you-know-you-are-mining-steem-with-your-mind
It is a part of steemit that does not get looked at very much, a good explanation of the community aspects. A heck of a lot better worded than anything I could ever type. She has had 293 views and 95 comments. The comment interaction is something you should also read, some are as insightful as her post.
I think its a great idea rafe! I'm all for it.
One thing that cannot be ignored is the amount of bot accounts on this site!
Interesting comment @madman198 given that my first reply was from @bottymcbotface !
@bottymcbotface are you a bot? And if so, how do you have currency to tip with and why do you do so? :-)
few bots are AI-enabled, but they are coming....
steem is truly the future cant wait to take a peek 10 years down the line
@rogerblu
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STOPHello @rafefurst,
when I see your conversation in this steemit I am very touched when I read it, when this is the first you post, the hope is even better in the future, and I really like you, you can follow me and Upvote my post, and I also so, @syar, thanks
Welcome I love TedTalks this is and awesome introducemyself post here is mine https://steemit.com/introducemyself/@isteemithard/introducing-myself-isteemithard-now-introduce-yourself
Oh man it will be amazing to see steemit featured in a TED talk!!! Welcome @rafefurst!! Take us to the future!!!
Best regards! I am wondering who will be the first person to hit the Amazon best-seller' list with a Steemit for Dummies...I thought I would collaborate with a Steemian expert; but, the success of such a project will require organized planning and persistent production.
I am a minnow, and find myself really in research mode, learning a mixed-bag of data; some accurate, some bogus, some shady. Yes, there are system-gamers in the Steemit community.
However, I will resteem this with hopes it will help you gain support.
Peace!
Tedx talk will really improve the visibility and popularity of steem in the crypto world, this is really a nice move, thumbs up