Steemit: The Future of Shared Social Networking

The invention of Steemit will be one of the most important events in Human History. 

"I am surprised at all the people in the high-tech industry focussed on making money. If that's all they want to do, they should have a $100 printing press in their basement and they will truly make money." - Philippe Kahn

Steemit has changed the game and it poses a real threat to the business model of Social networking. For the first time ever, you will have a truly blockchain based social network. More importantly, it is owned by the community. Reddit has been toying with this model but the secret seems to be building it from the ground up like Steemit. 

Social Networking and Content Distribution thrives on 3 things:

1. Networked users

2. Content Publishing 

3. Social engagement

Steemit has all of the above, in spades. Even better, I think it does these three things even better. With the Blockchain and shared interest as the basis of the platform, it has truly challenged the conventional wisdom. This is ties into the interesting concept of platform co-operatives.

Cooperative logic is based upon collaboration over competition, equity over self-interest, and sustainability over endless growth at all costs. 

The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) defines a cooperative as: “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically controlled enterprise cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity.” 

Cooperatives already play a large role across many economic sectors, from agriculture, to banking and finance, to retail and health care. More than “1 billion people are currently members of cooperatives…[while] more than 100 million people are employed by cooperatives, or 20 percent more employees than in multinational companies.”In the US, cooperatives account for “more than $3 trillion in assets, over $500 billion in annual revenue, $25 billion in wages and benefits, and nearly 2 million jobs.”It is the coupling of the cooperative model of Commons management with an IoT infrastructure, however, that will enable more efficient production and equitable distribution than ever before.