[Hae-Joo] The Steem Blockchain: A Social Networking, Media-Condensing, Content-Distributing Virtual Chakra.

in #steemit7 years ago (edited)

So last night I had an interview with @raci from the European Blockchain Center at IT University of Copenhagen. He's conducting a study to try and understand what Steem really is and how it's affecting users and society... And he had some really great questions, which really got me thinking about the true meaning of Steem. So I thought I would share with you my experiences as a moderately active member of this community.


Key Points


  • Steemit is a Social Networking tool to me First

  • A Media & Information Consumption tool Second

  • And an Entertainment & Content Production tool Third.


Introduction


What is it that is seemingly drawing in some of the most interesting minds on the internet to Steemit?

Is it the stellar user interface with unlimited functionality, the incredible aesthetic appearance of the website itself, the super precise ways of searching for Steemit content within the platform, or the incredibly dynamic and riveting exchanges taking place on the Steemit “chat” application?

The answer to that question is absolutely none of the above.

Reddit and Discord probably do a better job at those than Steemit can.

When people are coming together around Steemit or some other front-end, they're not coming together around a traditional social media platform. Far. From. It.

They are coming together around an incredibly novel bit of software and technology.

The Steem Blockchain.

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That's what people are really interacting through, and around. And it must be said, we still have absolutely no idea what might really come of it.

The Steem blockchain does not belong to any one group or entity, and anybody with a few Steem has a stake in this eco-system. A stake which they can grow considerably by having deep, profound and meaningful interactions with this technology and the other users on the network.

I contend that this "space", this network which is maintained by all of these witnesses and their nodes mining new blocks, is an eco-system in which we have only just begun seeing the true potential and benefits.

I'm already someone who fundamentally believes cryptocurrency has completely changed the game for ever. Light-years ahead of smart-phone, TV or game console tech, a blockchain is actually the most elegant technological invention that's occurred in my life.

For really only one simple reason: it essentially completely disintermediates large corporations and institutions from the role they play in serving our needs for platforms that enable and facilitate communication and all forms of socio-economic interaction and transaction.

It’s a trustless, peer-to-peer, free and open system.

Meaning: we can deal with each other as individuals, absolutely independent from any other corporation, if we choose to. Maybe we like Steemit and the Steemit corporation. Maybe we don't. Maybe we'd prefer Busy.org

Maybe we don't even interact with these front-ends. Maybe we want to use another one, and we have an idea that will allow us to build the best possible format to truly make the most out of the Steem blockchain... We probably have no idea what Steem will have enabled just a few years into the future.

The network is directly maintained and administered by representatives that the community chooses. The need for network operators that are not directly connected to the user-base is a thing of the past. Witnesses can be elevated and demoted at will depending on their performance. And the longer the blockchain runs, not only the more content it aggregates, but the deeper and richer the connections users of this technology can make with each other. The more value we can all get through each other's educational, insightful, informational, and other forms of contributions.

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This is the Blockchain. This is our Community. This is our Virtual Space where we can Come Together and Accomplish Incredible Things.

If we we’re to think of it in terms of energy, a blockchain is like spinning vortex. It draws information inputs in from all the users, processes it and redirects it through all of these channels and veins to be consumed by the community-body at large.


The Steem blockchain is a Chakra.


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It's drawing in and condensing energy and emitting it back out in new forms and compositions.

Steemit as a Networking Tool


"Come for the Crypto. Stay for the People."

How many of you have heard this place's slogan? Here's my first main point: the fact that this technology is so novel is what makes its community so rich and diverse. And what makes the interactions on here so much more in-depth and valuable.

Sure, this place may not be as technical as a forum, because posts are not as easily accessible as forum threads... Yet, Steemit enables us to connect with other people engaged in the cryptocurrency space, and to get into contact with them directly via interactions on a blockchain.

When I upvote and comment on somebody else’s post, I’m directly interacting with their wallet, and everybody else’s who visits that post. We’re pooling resources together and allocating it according to the value we are seeing, creating further incentives for more novel inputs of information.

Somebody who’s just enjoyed a great personal victory, breaking into new territories of insight, making real progress and achieving real success in the world now has a financial and ideological incentive to share that information with the world, where it might benefit an untold amount of other people.

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The fact that this blockchain is drawing in a rich and unique pool of diverse, global human beings who are really well-versed in a wide range of subjects matters and who are all interacting with society on a whole spectrum of angles; and most importantly, people who could not justify sharing their insight and material on traditional social media, because the format does not offer a suitable medium (Twitter doesn't allow depth, Facebook just steals all your content or hides it, etc.), now, these people have a platform where they can justify lengthier and deeper interactions with "the internet", by using their talents and skills and really doing the best and most passionate job they can. Because this kind of behavior can now be reasonably valued and remunerated by a self-funded community of wildly diverse individuals...

That's what the incentive system on this platform is bringing out of people... A belief in a novel type of hope, that we could actually sustain ourselves in life; in an economy that revolves around the circulation of thoughts and ideas, analysis and creativity, experience, authenticity, community...

This is what has up to now been previously unimaginable. Is this belief that an incredibly dynamic group of human beings, who would otherwise have absolutely no interest in connecting with one another, can now come together and deal with each other completely directly, with no other coercive environments like "an office" or some corporate or societal "institution" or platform, with all the consequences that entails...

Now we have a virtual space that brings us all together and allows us to learn from each other, share with each other, and grow together into something unique and brilliant.

Seriously, how can I not fail to understate the consequence of this technology? There are travelers, writers, developers, musicians, graphic designers, homesteaders, farmers, doctors, scientists, professors, media icons...

And they all have a place to come together, and start interacting and transacting with one other on this blockchain. They all have the possibility of pooling resources, ideas, know-how, suggestions, inputs from the entire community, and aggregating them here...

Seriously, is this technology not an elegant composition combining the greatest aspects of LinkedIn, Reddit, and Twitter, and mixing these together to create a space where in-depth, value-generating interactions can actually take place...

And we haven't even begun to see the true effects or potential of this kind of idea. Yet what is already become clear to me is that this kind of tool is going to be invaluable moving forward into the future, and I can imagine huge segments of society will never be able to imagine living life without these kinds of tools at their disposal.

I mean is it only me, or are there actually so many important relationships being forged here every day? Relationships that may one day sooner than we believe completely change our lives forever. This is the new form of social-power that Steem is harnessing. It can be as professional of a work tool for some as it can be a positive and fun distraction for others.

It has the ability to accommodate and suit a rich and diverse community that I truly believe no other platform remotely similar to it has really ever even had the prospects of entertaining and growing.


The more we as users explore these infinite possibilities, and create success stories for ourselves and our fellow Steemians whom we interact with, the more grandiose and prosperous this tool will truly become, and in the process, I believe this will change the way we view these information technology tools in the long-run forever.

Instead of interacting with faceless and anonymous users over a whole host of other platforms, maybe YouTube or some other platform, with no clear incentive to do so, to make anything lasting out of it... Now we actually have a tool that respects us and our time. That values our input...

We have the possibility to actually pour all of our talents and dedication and passion on a free and open platform and make it available for others to benefit from, and in the process, pull our weight in society and even possibly thrive from finding a new means of contributing to our world in a direct way. This is our platform, and everyone has a voice on it. And with the right intentions and actions, that voice has the potential to garner other's attention, and amplify itself across the whole space...

Many of us will find this model completely blows all other models out of the water...


Steem as a Media-Consumption Tool and Content-Production Tool


Steem is a cryptocurrency with unique features that make it an ideal hub capable of attracting novel, unique, pertinent, cutting-edge, breaking-news type information. So it functions as an incredible catalyst for the aggregation and dissemination of timely information and prescient insight.

Yet beyond that, it also rewards displays and examples of creative thinking and creative ability. Creators can come on this platform, and share their creations with the community. The community can then decide how cool this work is, and incentivize it further by allocating it some Steem.

And most importantly, this space is capable of accommodating alt-media, news aggregation, analytical commenting, as well as more creative-type information... Or simply just interesting human beings with interesting personal stories and thoughts; and it brings them all together in an eco-system where they can co-create their content and collaborate on trying to create value for the community.

It’s an incredibly dynamic (though competition) and collaborative (through co-operation) community.

Steem completely obliterates our traditional model of social media.


The obvious points of monetization of content, and its resistance to censorship are two points that cannot be neglected. Everybody can see the obvious benefit in these two points. But are there any other hidden benefits?

What about the aspect of making Steem a de-facto repository of human knowledge and experience… It’s a collective and decentralized ledger, which means it serves the purpose of a diary. We can keep record of virtually all forms of events and interactions and make them easily accessible to the rest of the world.

As an immutable ledger that records absolutely every single interaction with the blockchain, content can also be uploaded to this blockchain, which is an act of copyrighting on this network. So Steem is a publication tool, similar to a website, and the best is that the content belongs to whoever has the keys; no need to worry about content being stolen, it's here forever. Marked and dated.

Or let’s consider the fact that because big amounts of users’ money is invested in Steem, and those with the most Steem control the allocation of all new Steem, this fosters a culture of patronship. What does this mean? This means that the community can reward users who contribute novel, valuable and pertinent information, media, skills and talents.

In Other Words: This culture has some very interesting emergent properties.

And even though it must be stressful for many having their money in a project like Steem, we can't underestimate that the creation of these powerful incentives is really creating a previously never-seen-before internet community.

It's a platform that can pose problems to its community, and find truly innovative and practical means of solving them.


Through my time here I've even come to notice how remarkable this community is at self-regulating and self-governing itself. Without the need for too much policing of others, yet a communal will to deincentivizing bad behavior, the community stays dynamically engaged and has a stake in reaching out to other users, and trying its best to educate them about this blockchain and this community, and the best ways to interact with it for maximum benefit; rather than merely ignoring the bad behaviors... This is leading to more compassion and empathy and broad-minded thinking, which are mostly unheard attributes of most big internet platforms... And that's exactly what this project needs if it is going to fulfill its promise and realize its potential, and completely change the way we see these technologies, and the future benefits they might bring to our lives.

This new kind of internet community... I believe is One that is capable of dreaming bigger, working more closely-together, and investing more time and effort in itself...

Personally, Steemit fixes about 80% of my problems with all other forms of social media. And that 80% is absolutely all of the structural problems related to the negative externalities I found with other social media. "Waste of time", "Addictive Dopamine Behavior", "Unproductive interactions with other users", a "Negative Culture of Trolling" and other negative environmental factors typically associated with other platform's formats.

This is the first free and open collaborative social media project that is trying to remedy problems from previous generations of social media, specifically by tackling structural issues with previous' platforms models... It is simply pure genius to focus on reallocation and re-appropriation of the incentive mechanisms, because these incentives really produce remarkable new forms of online behaviors...

I mean, in my own experience, Steem really allows me to come together with people I would otherwise never have any meaningful interactions with, look at their thought process, their research, their work and unique take on things, and then ten minutes later, be discussing those very ideas on a one-to-one basis.

And this is all being incentivized... People for the first time in social-media recorded history really have no excuses for not coming together and making something truly fantastic out of it.


In Conclusion


I predict that we have yet to fully see how brilliant and exhilarating the possibilities are for Steem and everything that is going to be built on top of it. I think we really still have yet to see the ways that the power of Steem will be harnessed to accomplish truly previously unimaginable community projects.

It's like a quantum leap into a whole new paradigm of social organization, political action, and economic cooperation. It’s a decentralized platform that can bring humans from around the world together in a political socio-economic eco-system. It's a platform that can pose problems to its community, and find truly innovative and practical means of solving them.

The more we continue to contribute to this network, and the deeper and richer our involvement and commitment, the more this tool is going to open up doors for all of us.


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I wish new users to Steem would understand this. It's not about making a quick buck. No, we're in the process of creating something even more revolutionary than YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, Soundcloud and LinkedIn COMBINED.

I might have made some contacts who I've gotten to know quite intimitely who live all around the globe, and I may very well come to meet them in real life, and work with them on all kinds of projects.

Why? Because we have the potential to create value, have fun, and live interesting and dynamic experiences.

One second I'll be flying to the Philipines and meeting a friend there, the next I'll be heading over to Canada, and so on... This community has the power to really open up the world to us... Like I said, the possibilities seem endless, and the culture is ripe for it... It's hungering for it... Everybody on here is waiting for the next big success story, the next big event that is showing everybody on here that the dream is real and it is possible.

I'm not a seer and I cannot accurately predict what may come from this Blockchain. But honestly, just thinking about it for a few minutes and my brain just goes crazy with ideas...

We could have Steem flashmobs, live-streaming Steemian spontaneous acts of creativity in novel forms of self and group expression... We could have Steem movie-showings... Playing it in theaters around the globe while it is being subsequently live-streamed, selling tickets in SBDs! We could have Steem food fairs, city-wide cookouts and block parties... We could have Steem auctions, Steem charities, Steem fundraisers, galas, live-performance recitals...

I still don't understand why people wouldn't even sell freelance services for Steem. Anything remotely productive or creative, I mean that is the power of Steem. Can work on advertising projects, product launch projects... The combinations and options really are as limitless as we truly want...


And all of it is made realistically possible thanks to this novel piece of technology: The Steem Blockchain.


IMP UNITY REVOLUTION

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Peace and Love

Hae-Joo


Pixabay: Code / Blockchain-Family / Connecting-With-Each-Other / Elegant-Innovation / Girl-Binary / People-Connecting / Social-Media Revolution / People-Networking

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Holy jeezus. This post got my vote for circle-jerk post of the year. Lol.

“What is Steemit...?”

So many answers to that question, as it is so many different things to different people, an ongoing experiment, constantly evolving, expanding, yada yada yada. The chakra metaphor, now that is a new one. And a GREAT one.

For real, this outlook is golden. A fresh dose of quality inspiration to recalibrate attitude and outlook towards the platform and its possibilities.

I rarely resteem, but this absolutely earned it. 💖

Thanks for sharing this on Facebook @rok-sivante - I would have missed this otherwise!

You mister Rok are the gift to this blockchain that never stops giving.

I don't even have words for how grateful I am to you...

Without eyes like yours for these words to fall on, it would be wasted breath

It's because of Steemians like you, who are willing to take that gamble of the twenty first century,

Just coz' fuck it, what else have we got to lose? Only the Planet, the Future of our Species, and the Progress of the last 12k years

Since our grandkid's future is already on the line, why not give this idea a try

I love it. You absolutely get my full and complete respect and commendation...

Steem, or some blockchain that can accomodate the coming changes, may one day change the way society functions... But that wouldn't of been made possible because of central banks and government policies...

It was made possible because some people just put their money where there mouth was it, and wanted to give mankind a try... A true and genuine try...

I don't think you will be disappointed... It's knowing that we are all part of this great project together, something that goes far beyond Steemit or crypto... It's this whole wave of change, this reality that we can make anything we want of this... That's what pushes me every time I hit a wall to go deeper and find the answers within

So thanks for being an exemplary Steemian and more importantly a cool and open human being. It's my pleasure to be getting to know you

I expect great things have yet to come and we're all each going to have an important role in making these great things happen!

Hear Hear!

What a way to re-examine what it is all about (in these different ways).

And that chakra boom was a mic drop moment.

"That's what the incentive system on this platform is bringing out of people... A belief in a novel type of hope, that we could actually sustain ourselves in life; in an economy that revolves around the circulation of thoughts and ideas, analysis and creativity, experience, authenticity, community..."

You nailed it. It's for artists everywhere. I think I'll write a post on my thoughts of Steemit soon.

Yeah! Definitely! We gotta keep growing this idea! As it stands, there's so much unfulfilled promise!
This platform will certainly have its ups and downs! But as long as the community stays strong, we can grow this into anything we want to see it become. And yeah, the implications for artists, and really anybody who works in media/information/numeric formats can definitely use this as a professional tool of sorts! I might need to offer some services for steem at some point! Get some Steem businesses going on!

Yes yes yes

I want to personally thank you for writing this piece because lately i've not been feeling the magic of this place anymore.

But you've just whipped it right back into place.

thank you thank you thank you!

You're really welcome and plenty more coming your way my dear! xx

Dude, I am not Indonesian so I have NO idea what you are talking about.

Spam attach. EIGHT duplicate comments in this thread. Unacceptable. The flag hammer comes down.

I didn't see them because I had muted them.

But now I see this, I will flag away!!!!
Yay!

The "Flag Hammer" analogy is probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen somebody use before absolutely flagging to shit somebody's ass back to the Stone Age! 😂

It was literally one of the funniest things to see this person have come and spammed all over the thread and then come back a couple hours later and see they lost 20 reputation points and all of their posts are invisible.

The way the situation looks in my 3rd eye is so politically incorrectly hilarious it's not even funny! (But it so is!)

Something along the lines of an Aladdin-style street urchin running around the market trying to steal a little loaf of bread or a piece of fruit to feed themselves and getting stopped by the royal guard and having their hands chopped off.

O the lulz => 😁

lol.

sometimes I almost feel bad for flagging people like this, as they're probably newbies who don't know any better... but c'mon, eight spam comments on a single post???

examples need to be set.

and I tend to be lenient, too - have had multiple cases where the person acknowledges the error and I end up removing the flags. so I guess this isn't complete tyranny... :-)

I know! Trust me you gotta do what you gotta do! They're not following my 175SP around frothing at the mouth like they do around you! LOL

I know you have but one desire is to help this community get its shit together and really make something great of it!

Sometimes, a little tough love might be exactly what a situ calls for, when people are just acting anyway they want and don't even bother to reach out

Flag down and carry on! xx

🙃

This is the EIGHTH comment you’ve posted this link in this thread.

Please stop this type of spam.

It is NOT relevant to the post. Such conduct is inappropriate. These comments are getting flagged, as there is NO way this is not spam.

Hahaha thank you @rok ! Your voting-hammer was much appreciated!
🌈 But let's be real there's not enough flag-hammering in the world for you to clobber all these minnows swimming in the pool at your feet! 🌊

one small fish at a time, my friend... lol

great piece, its mind blowing what the blockchain is accomplishing, and yet we have only just scratched the surface of this technology, steem blockchain really have an edge in this technology because of its peculiar strategy in creating a network effect that will be equaled to none in time to come.

You're absolutely correct @darkerhorse, I couldn't agree more.
It's certainly a unique take on the age-old strategy... I think every modern technology tries to create a network effect but the fact that it is this peer-to-peer direct uncensorable network that is free and open source... I mean shiiit... If Facebook was open source, or YouTube...

We can do anything with this Blockchain! It's ours... We can host global political debates... We can dispense relief in emergencies...

We can achieve literally anything as long as we can keep a high-demand for Steem... That's what we need to focus on... How do we create an insatiable appetite for Steem... How do we create things that people will want Steem in order to get those things...

All questions that so many potential answers could be given to

Tracing this link back from Facebook through @rok-sivante gave me a whole pleasure in reading till mid-point, and i resteemed complete the reading of this fantastic article.

Thank you so much for your resteem! You have no idea how much that helps!
I'm glad this article gave you pleasure... I think its good to remind ourselves of how cutting edge this truly is, and to have some kind of vision, no matter how idealistic for some or realistic for others, of what is made possible by this technology and how we can further improve on its applications and functionalities to make it the best invention to have graced mankind ever!

This is system's theory 101: You get out what you put in ; or rather: Garbage in, garbage out

Don't put Garbage into the blockchain!

Sow seeds and reap fruits!

This article comes with a superb message. Steemit carries different meaning for different indivituals.

I gave this post a mention in my latest post because I cannot even in words write the gift you have given me :)

https://steemit.com/life/@ashleykalila/my-steemit-inspiration-is-dwindling-my-life-is-wobbly-once-again-and-how-i-am-finding-the-mojo-back-again

You are a blessing and a gift to this community yourself! Thank you so much for the mention, and can't wait to have future interactions!

LETS RIDE DIS UNICORN!

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Jake and Fin and Lady Rainicorn.gif

SUCH GOOD GIFS!!

I love AdventureTime!!!!

Once you have a genuine idea about a particular field. For instance you do repair bicycle and you do it excellently. Even though your inside a pit people will locate you there. That is exactly how steemit is. It's efficacy could not be hidden it stands out among all other plateforms.
Nice post you have there.
Keep it up.
Did love to see more of this kind of post from you.

Somewhere else I said that you shouldn't do these kind of comments but your post is absolutely great and I have nothing more to add. :)

It's really the reason why I re-steemed your post! Reading your words after just having put this piece out really really confirmed exactly what I love about this platform and how fantastically I think it works.

It's like you know when you affirm some grand general principle like "Money is Evil" and then 5 seconds later you see somebody get robbed and shot and you're like SEE??? 👀 👀

That's what your post made me feel like! I had one of those "SEE" I told you so moments hahaha :)
Thank you for taking the time to check this piece out! Looking forward to more interesting perspectives from a man who likes to sip drinks 🍹 looking at a splendid view of the Acropolis 😏

thank you . see you on steemit. cheers . :)

This post deserves so much more visibility!

I love the comparison to a chakra (and the gif!!). I often use the flower of life to give people a mental image of the blockchain (as opposed to a pyramid for our centralized world), but the chakra metaphor is much better!

The future is amazing and we're already living it!

Thank you so much @connecteconomy (and love your name!)

Well, if we wanted to get all Pythagorean and bust out some geometry, a chakra is absolutely composed of a flower of life pattern, if anything ever were! I've had the privilege of perceiving chakras using my etheric senses, and I can "confirm" it just looks like a spinning little vortex of energy, much like a galaxy, or our Universe, or the flower of life! :3
(At least in my mind's inner eye!)

The future is so amazing and yeah, it's high time that we be living it!!!

Thanks so much for your input and your comment... That means a lot to me you think that 🌞