Can the blockchain build a better Twitter? [55]
Blockchain is the peanut butter to social media’s chocolate
Good afternoon, friends!
Since the inception of Web2 and social media, there has always been a troubled, if problematic issue that users have always suffered under and that is that all social media is owned, operated, and platformed by corporations.
It has the appearance of something decentralized, being on the internet that can be connected to from anywhere, but it is fundamentally centralized in that it all connects to and flows from one place. As a result, people can build up their entire life on a social media platform such as Facebook or Twitter and one day get their entire life ripped out from underneath them for one bad post or tweet with a ban.
Jack Dorsey himself has lamented that his biggest failure in building Twitter, which is one of the most prominent examples of Web2 social media, is that it became a company. Instead, he said that it should have become a protocol.
This is the vision of Web3 and the power of blockchain technologies, they already are protocols and anyone can build on them. Unlike platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, where users are the product and have no control over their posts or tweets, in the Web3 paradigm, users retain control of their own content and have a stake in how it’s used and seen.
The upside of the blockchain is that once a user publishes something their message is forever, indelibly recorded onto the distributed ledger and cannot be deleted. They have published it and they’re in control of their own content.
This has given rise to a number of new decentralized protocols that reflect traditional social media.
Such as Odysee, which is a decentralized YouTube, launched in 2020 that hosts its content in LBRY has been used to host content for dissidents and documentaries about censorship. It has no moderators and its own community assists with governance. Entre, which is a LinkedIn-like Web3 app, allows users to link up with other professionals in the blockchain space and interact. Mirror.xyz promises to be a blogging platform like Medium where writers can earn cryptocurrency by writing.
All of these apps can also be accessed through decentralized identity, made possible with nonfungible token domains and usernames, such as Unstoppable Domains. Using protocols such as Unstoppable Domains it’s possible to create easy-to-ready addresses for wallets and single sign-on for apps that are protected by cryptographic keys in a safer system than using centralized platforms such as Twitter or Facebook.
This week, FreeRossDAO, the organization dedicated to freeing Ross Ulbricht and advancing prison reform, passed the Solidarity Network proposal. With this network, FreeRossDAO will begin to collaborate with organizations through community engagement by volunteering and providing funds and other resources.
The project is part of FreeRossDAO’s Reform Pod and is looking for people interested in joining the effort. People can join Discord, and participate in the DAO's collaborative efforts and earn rewards from bounties.
As usual, after the break, there’s a brief rundown of this week’s news and then the long form of the news is in the paid section. Stay with us until next week for more commentary on what’s been happening!
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Blockchain Bulletin
FreeRossDAO passes ‘Solidarity Network’ proposal to support prison reform projects. FreeRossDAO, the DAO supporting freedom for Ross Ulbricht, who is incarcerated for building the Silk Road, just launched the “Solidarity Network,” to effect change in the prison system.
Argo Blockchain raising $25M-$35 to reach 4.1 EH/s hashrate target. The Bitcoin mining operation Argo Blockchain is seeking to raise $25 million to $35 million to hit a $4.1 exahash her second hashrate target the company’s CEO Peter Wall said during a recent investor call, reported CoinDesk.
Blockchain Behind the Scenes
Ethermine stops processing ‘US sanctioned’ Tornado Cash transactions. Ethermine, the largest Ethereum mining pool, has stopped processing transactions related to the Tornado Cash crypto mixer, which was sanctioned by the US Treasury in what is being called protocol-level censorship.
Ethermine begins countdown to Merge with plans to drop PoW mining. Ethermine is also preparing for the upcoming Ethereum Proof of Stake “Merge” upgrade with a countdown ticker that will warn miners about it abandoning Proof of Work mining.
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