The Mainstream Is Helping To Make Steem A Huge Success

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Sometimes we get so immersed in our own situation that we miss what is taking place outside of it. At the same time, it is easy to miss what our most valuable asset is.

What would you think if I told you millions of people are ready to join Steem this moment? They would love the platform just as it is. No matter what the problems, they find it to be a just what is needed.

Would you believe me?

Looking at it from the angle we normally do, this is absurd. The DApps that we have on here are immature at the moment. They are evolving yet, for the most part, do not rival what is already out there. We still have a distribution model that heavily favors a few large accounts. There is no effective advertising or marketing of the platform.

I am sure more can be added.

The truth is, to the people I am referring, none of this matters. Steem, to them, is ideal because it solves their major need. Products that solve needs are worth a lot to people.

So what is this need? In a word: FREEDOM.

In the last 6 months, we saw a major leap by the traditional social marketing entities in the area of control. They are exerting it in ways not seen before, at least on a global level.

Most are aware of the YouTube, Facebook, Apple, and others that banned Alex Jones. They claimed violation of terms of service but everyone knows it is because they did not like what he was saying. Whether one is for or against Alex Jones is not relevant. What needs to be relevant is that we all need to be against censorship.

And this is something that is starting to move en masse. People are waking up.

@anomadsoul had an excellent write up yesterday about what is taking place. It is his belief that the Internet, as we know it, will be dead in a little over a year. Steem is providing the ideal alternative.

In his article, he lists a number of actions taken by mainstream companies that limit people's ability to freely voice what they believe. It is well worth a read.

https://busy.org/@anomadsoul/the-normal-internet-is-dying-or-the-steem-ecosystem-is-the-future

Of late, I came across a number of different articles and Tweets about Patreon. It seems they are going to same route as the others. PayPal is starting to cut off people's ability to transfer funds if they do not approve of the organization. This is similar to what the banks did with cryptocurrency.

It takes some real balls to tell people that they cannot sent their money to legal entities.

Steem provides an oasis in this mess. For all our problems, what we do allow is people to post what they want. Steem can be sent to any wallet, regardless of what that wallet is tied to. There is no mechanism that I know of that can stop one from transferring Steem.

In fact, there is no mechanism that can stop a post from being put on the blockchain. A post can be downvoted yet it is still on the blockchain. It will only appear invisible in certain interfaces. The post is on the blockchain. It can be reversed by the Witnesses with a supermajority which is not likely to ever happen.

As a side note, it is important to remember pictures and videos are not on the blockchain itself. They can be deleted and taken down because they reside on the application's servers.

For the moment, this is Steem's major selling point. One does not have to surf too far on the web to find articles talking about another batch of people who were deleted, demonetized, or thrown off one of the major social media platforms. If we add in hacks and how accounts are targeted by angry ex employees, it is easy to see the opportunity that Steem presents.

Perhaps Anomadsoul is correct. If 2019 ramps up from the later half of 2018 in terms of the censorship, there will be tens of millions of people who are displaced. There are billions of people around the world who cannot freely express themselves and never could. These individuals are not put out by it. Those who, however, were able to state what they wanted and had that removed, that does not sit well with them.

We talk about monetization, community, and the ability to utilize a great number of applications all within one ecosystem. That is all true. However, our biggest selling point might well be the fact that we allow anyone to post what they want. There is no censorship. Anything that is written using one of the Steem interfaces and submitted, is on the blockchain.

Steem's growth in 2019 could see an incredible boost by the mainstream sites. If they insist in pursing an agenda of censorship, political correctness, and thought policing, then millions will seek another alternative. From this perspective, Steem already provides that solution.

For this reason, we must all be dedicated to working to decentralize Steem as much as possible. The moves that are taking place, especially with the smaller master nodes, are crucial. Steem needs to have thousands of nodes spread throughout the world. If this is the case, we are looking at a blockchain that completely opposite of the present Internet.

And the need for a new Internet is something the world does not realize it needs yet is waking up to.

Ironic that Facebook and YouTube could be Steem's greatest ally.

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