Three days ago, I shared an excerpt from the introduction of my forthcoming book titled Cryptosocial: How Cryptocurrencies are Changing Social Media. Today, I want to follow that up with another excerpt. This time, we're in chapter one of the book. It's essentially the introduction to Chapter 1.
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When primitive man wanted to travel from Argos to the banks of the Yellow River, he invented a circular object and called it a wheel. In those days, traveling farther and faster meant more cash in the war treasure and greater leverage for trade. The invention proved to be a huge advancement for civilization.
Throughout history, enterprising individuals have identified problems and addressed them with creative solutions. This has often led to future innovations and improvements.
In the 1440s, an enterprising German named Johann Gutenberg ushered in the age of mass communications with advancements in printing.[1] That led to the publication of daily newspapers, monthly magazines, and countless books. Many of the font types that have been developed since then are now used in web publishing.
New technologies often solve more than problem. Sometimes they address challenges people weren’t aware they had. That might be the case with decentralized social media.
Blockchain developers make bold promises. One of those is that blockchains and distributed ledgers can and will return the internet to its decentralized roots. Another is that the technology will provide a greater sense of security for anyone sharing personal data on the web. Just as important, the persons to whom that data belongs can have more control over how it is shared and profit from it, as opposed to third parties selling it for a profit and not sharing that profit with anyone else. These benefits are wrapped up in the nature of the technology itself, but are they what web citizens want? If so, does the average internet user know they want these benefits?
Crypto enthusiasts don’t need to be sold. The rest of the world might. If you’ve wondered what the fuss over bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is all about, or you’re at least a little bit concerned about the power that rests in the hands of a few at the top of the social media pyramid, then keep reading to learn how a new emerging technology could solve some of the biggest problems facing the planet at the beginning of the third millennium.
[1] History.com editors. May 7, 2018. “Printing Press,” History.com. https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/printing-press, (March 30, 2021).
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If you'd like a list of more than 80 cryptosocial and decentralized social media platforms and protocols, go to my website and scroll down to where it says "Get your list of cryptosocial platforms and protocols. Click the link and you'll be taken to the download page. I'll notify you when the book is nearing publication (March 2022).
