The future of Steemit
I, like many others on the platform have been watching closely what has been happening since HF19. There have been countless posts on the subject too, particularly recently as the price of Steem has been dropping.
I read a couple of interesting posts on the subject this morning by @yoda1917 and @wolvoman80 which have got me thinking so I thought I would add my two cents worth.
Since Steemit is the first project of it's kind it has an advantage in the same way that Bitcoin did as the first cryptocurrency, but unlike Bitcoin which is only used as a medium of exchange or method of payment, Steemit holds knowledge and information that cannot be expunged and this information is dangerous to those who currently control the mainstream media.
There is a chance of course that both Bitcoin and Steemit either are or could become controlled opposition to the currently accepted forms of currency/social network, but if Steemit users are paying attention, thanks to the complete transparancy of the blockchain, they should notice for example if multiple whales suddenly appear from nowhere and start voting down posts on Pizzagate or other subjects that the powers that should not be do not want us to learn about.
If this started to happen, what could be done about it? This is the question that needs to be asked.
In reality, we minnows and dolphins depend on the integrity of the whales and those that founded this platform to ensure that it is a success. While the majority of whales/witnesses genuinely want to see this platform grow, it will grow, and as long as the main players on Steemit (a lot of whom have been here since day 1) when combined, have more Steempower than those that might try to ruin or destroy the site, the damage they can do should be limited shouldn't it?
To be honest, I don't really know enough about how the platform works or what could be done to stop a concerted effort by a large holder of steempower (or multiple large holders combined) from changing the direction of the site of making it so it wasn't attractive to new users, but I am interested in hearing from those that do/might.
Steem on !!!
Thank you for an informative and easy-reading take on this matter @jimbobbill. :c)
I find your hypothesis of a whale suddenly appearing out of nowhere to flag unapproved posts to oblivion to be highly compelling even if disturbing.
It took me a moment to realize how such a whale 'could' arise. I presume that such represents a process of seriously powering up such accounts through money inflows.
Even so, it would be tricky for a Reputation 25 whale to cause a lot of damage - unless I am missing the mark. So such would require the long term infiltration of the Steemit community by sleeper whales pending activation as self-ordained "information sanitizers".
Am I far from the mark?
As an aside, your concerns do cause me to think back on 'Data Flowers' - although even that wouldn't be a 100% vaccine (and I realize that such is an ironic comparison) against an infiltration of the scale that you are implying would be necessary.
Interesting times lie ahead.
I'm not sure how much difference the reputation would make in this case either. I've just read the post you linked. Very interesting but I will need to do a bit of research to work out exactly what you are talking about (sybil attack strategies for example). I appreciate the effort and time you take to comment and write posts. I've just upvoted and resteemed the linked article. Thanks
I really appreciate you taking a moment to go through the suggestion. ^_^
It is possible to read while skipping the Sybian-related information (added at the suggestion of another poster)
Even so, the Sybian-related info does quite relate to your security concerns - my data flower suggestion concerning a new level of data curation and accessibility. Imagine a 'pizzagate flower'. Yes its data may be unkempt due to unkind attention and flags but it would still be more or less intact for anybody interested in such information).
I always seek to better a system that I believe in. Its a bit of an incorrigible habit with me. Likewise thank you also for your invaluable analysis of HF19 and the 'bear'ing of STEEM. Also for your upvote and resteem. I'd already intended on the same with regards to this post. Done! :c)
I'm pretty sure that if it would come to some form of censorship as you outlined - there'd be people who'd create a separate Steemit web frontend and display the 'raw' content from the blockchain itself without censorship through the frontend.
That would be interesting and certainly would represent a way for checks and balances to come into effect.
I could see it working through the use of a specialized bot that announces upon a thread that a parallel thread has been created upon the alternative front-end for comments and additional information free from the threat of direct flagging (you cannot flag a comment on another site)
Your suggested solution seems simpler to implement and more streamlined - users not requiring to interact with it. Of course, its also possible that this front end would highlight censored content that has been appealed for - perhaps, again, to a representative bot.
Hi @jimbobbill,
I'm upvoting this post as a bonus because your contest submission is already at 7 days. Thanks for entering my contest!
Thanks and thanks for the $10 SBD too.
Interesting.
Thank you for posting.