Hive: One Of The Few Choices To Build Decentralized Social Media
We hear a lot of chatter about this. Decentralized social media seems to be the talk right now. Obviously, with the censorship that is taking place along with the discussions of what responsibility platforms have, it is just a total mess.
The solution to this is a decentralized system where people are free to post what they desire. This means the reader has the responsibility to ignore content he or she find objectionable, being able to research what is fake and what is not, and take control of what is followed or seen.
Of course, this is not in the plans for those who have power but, then again, we are not exactly asking their permission.
We are also aware there is a market for this. Even Jack Dorsey is talking about making a "decentralized alternative to Twitter". While most of us believe this is a line, it does show how the topic is on the minds of many.
Therefore, what is going to usher in this new era?
Where To Build It?
This is a major problem. Sure there are a lot of blockchains to choose from. However, how many really have what is needed to provide that functionality that users expect?
If we look around, the list gets short in a fairly rapid period. Not a lot of chains can fulfill the requirements.
To start, we see many with scaling issues. This is one of the major problems with Ethereum. They are supposedly addressing this with the switch to proof-of-stake. A transition like this should help them to scale better than proof-or-work.
Even so, other PoS systems still have some issues with the scaling situation. Social media can generate billions of transactions in a day. This is something that applications are going to have to be able to process at some point. It is what points to the underlying technology.
Then we have the transaction fees. Most are aware this instantly removes Ethereum from the discussion. Even for decentralized finance, the fees are too rich for most.
Many of the newer chains are much improved in that area. However, there is still a fee associated with any transaction. While it is minimal, a few cents apiece, it is there.
The challenge is that, while this is fine for financial transactions, how feasible is it for social media and, by extension, gaming?
Hive's Offering
Much of the first year was spent on scaling the Hive blockchain. This was an important step for a couple reasons. Naturally, it enhanced the amount of traffic that can be processed. We saw a great deal of increase in the numbers due to the explosion of @splinterlands. However, the blockchain did not even hiccup but for one situation, which allowed us to further scale the potential.
Thus, we see having the potential to really handle a large number of transactions, something that is vital for social media activity. It also made it less expensive to operate.
Which bring up another factor and one that is crucial in the discussion. Hive is a fee-less blockchain. Notice it does not say free. There is a cost to being involved yet it is not on a transaction basis.
Anyone who wants to use the Hive blockchain needs to have some stake. Obviously, when one first gets involved, this is not likely to happen on a large scale. People will not want to buy some Hive and stake it simply to test out a social media application.
Here is where delegation enters the picture. For newer people, the ability to transact is provided by the application. A small amount of HP is delegated to give people some basic functionality on the chain.
There is also work being done on having a Resource Credit Pool where people who have excess are able to allocate their RCs, allowing others, likely applications, to get access to what is needed.
Combining this, we do not find too many blockchains that offer this type of package.
Solutions Not Hype
This is the key going forward. There are a lot of projects that receive a great deal of hype. In the end, none of that matters. Sure, it provides some short run boost to the price of the token. However, over the long term, this will not suffice.
We are looking at providing an alternative to the present system. To achieve this, we need to provide solutions, not hype. People must be able to find the applications that suit their needs while offering more than what we presently see on the market.
As described above, it is becoming evident that decentralized social media is required. People need a place they can post their videos and text, without fear of it being censored or having their entire digital lives wiped out with the click of a button.
This is very valuable in this era. Each day, we see more people ostracized by mega-tech. Regardless of what they are espousing, the key is to ensure their right to say what they want. That is freedom. Again, this puts the onus upon us as content consumers to determine what is valid versus what is complete garbage.
Since the need is there, the applications have to be built. This harkens us to the overall focus of this article. Where are developers going to create all of this? What blockchains are suitable to provide the scale that is required, no fees per transaction, and true account ownership?
When we view things through this lens, we see how the list gets rather short. Certainly, there could be hybrid situations built where a decentralized blockchain is used for some of the activity, with much taking place on a server. This, of course, does create a situation where some of the same vulnerabilities exist. While it is likely a step forward, it is only a partial solution.
Hive has the capability to provide the entire solution. It is one of the few choices to build decentralized social media upon.
Few others can meet the requirements. With what is being developed, specifically SpkNetwork and the application by the Leofinance team, we are going to see some social media offering emerging that can truly start to compete with what is presently out there.
Hopefully, from there, things only start to snowball for the decentralized world.
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