I discovered a few days ago that my WordPress integration of @Exxp wasn't working properly. As a result, my blog posts weren't being published Hive as I expected them to be. After entering the Exxp Discord channel, I discovered other people were experiencing the same issue. I left a message nine days ago inquiring about, but so far, no response. I am hoping that this is fixed soon.
Meanwhile, I'd like to share a bit from my forthcoming book titled Cryptosocial: How Cryptocurrencies Are Changing Social Media. The book is due to publish from Business Expert Press in March 2022.
The following excerpt is from the introduction, which I may revise before sending the final edit to my publisher on Tuesday.
The year 2020 rode in on a dark horse.
From a lab in Wuhan, China, a virus spread out across the globe like an imperial sword. By March, it had taken root in New York City and soon pervaded the rest of the country.
In May, a white police officer knelt on the neck of a black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His subsequent death set off a ripple of protests that will likely have social ramifications for many years to come.
Being that it was election year, the usual slugfest of words between warring political factions was more hostile than anything in recent memory.
But this book is not about politics or pandemics. It’s about social media.
Unfortunately, even our social media has us polarized. We can’t agree on a definition of fake news and Facebook news feeds serve as personal soap boxes for millions of amateur political analysts who make no attempt to hide their biases, proud mothers, and wall-to-wall cat memes. The previous year’s brouhaha spilled over into 2021 and led to several legacy social media platforms banishing a sitting president and locking him out of his own accounts . Twitter and Facebook had already been fact-checking his posts and flagging them as potential misinformation.
Is this the power we want our social media platforms to possess? If they de-platform a member of one political party, might they also target members of another? If they silence the most powerful man in the world, who else might they silence?
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first website. The World Wide Web has come a long way since. Where will it be in five years? Or fifty? If blockchain developers have their way, it will return to its decentralized roots. But what will be the price, and how will we get there?
Given the pace at which technology is changing our livelihood and our deeply held cultural values, perhaps we should ask what we really want from social media. How will it affect our beliefs and behaviors, our liberties and our laws?
And, just as importantly, how should revenues generated from the content on social media platforms be split between the platforms, the creators, and the curators?
These are the problems cryptosocial media entrepreneurs are trying to solve. Advocates point to blockchain technology and note that it provides benefits for everyone – if only everyone would get on board.
My hope is that this book will interest and intrigue readers to ask the right questions about the purpose of social media, how its content should be distributed and rewarded, and whether blockchain technology will solve the problems of the current social media landscape or simply be another layer of paint on chipping walls.
In the coming weeks, I'll be sharing more content from my, which I hope you'll comment on and share your insights into the new, emerging world of cryptosocial media.
Allen Taylor
https://authorallentaylor.com
https://tayloredcontent.com
https://cryptocracy.substack.com/
https://twitter.com/allen_taylor
