We hear of cryptocurrencies forking.. But.. Is the internet itself forking?
I saw someone else mention something along these lines the other day on steemit. And it made me think..
I had actually made a post not too long ago about how I feel steemit is sort of like a break away society and I think I'm starting to understand the bigger picture a lil more now.
Digital money created by individual entities that has perceived value and which can be mined, traded and which also can nr converted to physical fiat money is a sort of new idea.
We have evidence the government has been toying with the idea since the 1990's at least yet I don't think what we have evolving is the "cashless" society that they wanted or had envisioned. This one I think is scary to the continuation of their power structure instead of empowering them more.
And now.. We have people choosing between YouTube or Dtube. Fiat money vs digital money.
People choosing between Instagram and steepshot.
There's a replacement for virtually everything on the "new" internet and if it's not there yet there's probably someone or a team working on it or someone or a tea who will.
People leaving their old audiences and friends behind to discover a new world of exciting mindbending possibilities.
Yet.. Many aren't ready. They are. Comfortable with and like the old social media they are used to.
Some are also just not ready for the lack of censorship. They need an authority figure to ban and control things that they don't like.
So.. We have this fork or bifurcation point sort of where libertarians and anarchists and freedom minded people are flocking in mass to this new technology and people who are more comfortable with the status quo seem to be hanging around the status quo so to speak.
I'm generalizing here this doesnt apply absolutely, don't get mad at me if you feel this applied to you.
Anyways.. If you did get annoyed maybe reflect. I'm not one to water down my language if it means the message is lost.
I do think that is a strong element here.. Some people are not ready for this level of freedom.
I still sort of think this is eventually going to lead to some sort of conflict between both worlds and at the very least for some people it already is as they try to juggle both the old internet and the new one.
I know which world I favor more. The more free one. In two years just posting on steemit I've been able to do many things I've never done before. And I haven't been censored even once!
I've made thousands of dollars, created an awesome contest that rewards people, and I've never been censored.. It just seems clear to me. Plus.. This is just the start! I have a feeling the future is going to be positively surprising in regards to this tech.
And for people in poorer places in the world like Africa it can be a life saver. You can change lives with your time if you used steemit instead of old tech. Or some other similar platform. There's a few others out there like steemit now.
But every day I look on Facebook and see people not making money talking mostly about trivial stuff and posting selfies and pics of their pets and food. And I see some people complaining of being censored all the time.
And.. I just think.. You could be doing the same thing. Making money and then giving some of it to people who are in more need than you. sigh..
I do think the internet is forking. I've met many others like myself now. I feel like I'm part of numerous communities of likeminded people and we're helping to make things better in the world in the ways we can.
But.. So many are so comfortable in the old world. They want an authority to control things and true freedom scares them as much as they claim to wrap themselves in the flag of their Nation founded on liberty.(referring to U.S. people here)
I think it might be a while.. The gatekeepers have a strong hold on the masses and anything they claim is fake news essentially is to their flock.
But if we just keep doing what we're doing.. I think in time more and more will want to come over to the more free internet just like so many people all over the world wanna flock to the United States for all the freedom is represents.
If true.. At some point I foresee mass abandonment of the old internet as people who want more freedom begin to migrate over.
And to be fair, might not be to steemit. Might be to another social media. I think steemit will continue to be a player for at least 10 years, but.. I think(hope) that in the not too distant future that Facebook will be like Myspace, and that more people will choose more freedom and not less.
I could be wrong. The current monopolies could remain for a while! The people may choose more authoritarian control and less freedom.. But.. I have hope and I am optimistic that humanity is heading in a better direction . :)
In what I see as a better direction anyways. Though I admit I'm a bit biased.
I do want to see more freedom. I try to be fair and neutral, though I worked most my life to try to promote such.
So.. Yeah.. You may disagree, feel free to let me know if you do and why! I enjoy hearing other perspectives.
Thanks for reading if you did! Bye until next time.