The Importance of Blockchain & the Future of Social Media
What is Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin? Have you heard of these terms, but have no idea what they actually mean? I'm proud to introduce a new Digital Marketing Show produced by Socially Powered. We will help break down the confusing industry & help you better understand what blockchain is & how you can use it to your advantage in business. Sound good?
How blockchain emerged? Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta envisioned what many people have come to know as blockchain, in 1991. Their first work involved working on a cryptographically secured chain of blocks whereby no one could tamper with timestamps of documents.
Satoshi Nakamoto is accredited as the brains behind blockchain technology. Very little is known about Nakamoto as people believe he could be a person or a group of people that worked on Bitcoin, the first application of the digital ledger technology.
Nakamoto conceptualized the first blockchain in 2008 from where the technology has evolved and found its way into many applications beyond cryptocurrencies. Satoshi Nakamoto released the first whitepaper about the technology in 2009. In the whitepaper, he provided details of how the technology was well equipped to enhance digital trust given the decentralization aspect that meant nobody would ever be in control of anything.
Ever since Satoshi Nakamoto exited the scene and handed over Bitcoin development to other core developers, the digital ledger technology has evolved resulting in new applications that make up the blockchain History.
A very common question, when was blockchain invented? ‘They' say Blockchain was invented in 1991. Do you agree?
Erin Cell pictured with Vitalik Buterin & Alyze Sam at ETHDenver 2020.
2013-2015: Blockchain 2.0: Ethereum Development
In a world where innovation is the order of the day, Vitalik Buterin is among a growing list of developers who felt Bitcoin had not yet reached there, when it came to leveraging the full capabilities of blockchain technology, as one of the first contributors to Bitcoin codebase.
I recently attended ETHDenver where I had the chance to meet Vitalik & he was interviewed by the Bad Crypto Podcast — (you know that podcast I produce) about all things crypto-related. You can check it out on March 8th when it’s released.
Blockchain Defined
Investopedia defines Blockchain as “blockchain is a distributed, decentralized, public ledger.”
A blockchain is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography. Each block typically contains a hash pointer as a link to a previous block, a timestamp and transaction data. By design, blockchains are inherently resistant to modification of the data. A blockchain is “an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way.”For use as a distributed ledger, a blockchain is typically managed by a peer-to-peer network collectively adhering to a protocol for validating new blocks. Once recorded, the data in any given block cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks, which requires collusion of the network majority.
Medium Article – “Picture a spreadsheet that is duplicated thousands of times across a network of computers. Then imagine that this network is designed to regularly update this spreadsheet and you have a basic understanding of the blockchain.”
Blockgeeks – A blockchain is, in the simplest of terms, a time-stamped series of immutable records of data that is managed by a cluster of computers not owned by any single entity. Each of these blocks of data (i.e. block) is secured and bound to each other using cryptographic principles (i.e. chain).
Why is blockchain important & why should you care?
- Secure – digital certification, authenticity & ownership is just one of the reasons to trust blockchain
- Immutability – once the data is stored in a blockchain it can’t be modified or altered
- Transparency – businesses can track every detail & transaction — everyone can see this as well. There is no chance of a discrepency.
- Increased efficiency – business owners can increase efficiency by eliminating costly errors
- Transactions in minutes – send & receive money in minutes
SOCIAL MEDIA ALTERNATIVE PLATFORMS:
You've heard it & seen it on the news — there are all kinds of controversy surrounding the big social media platforms. They are censoring, blocking, removing & are you next? I've seen it happen to so many friends and clients. Literally for no reason. They allow nudity in some cases, but not others. You can provide financial advice as long as it is what ‘they' want you to discuss/promote, if you don't you may be shut down or banned. What gives? When will we stop this from happening or at the very least stop supporting the companies who are censoring what we can say or watch?
Here are some alternative blockchain social media platforms where you can say & do what you want without the fear of being censored or de-platformed. Let's take control of our social! 👊
? vs. FACEBOOK
- Minds.com vs. Facebook
- Take back control of your social media — A place to have open conversations and bring people together. Free your mind and get paid for creating content, driving traffic and referring friends.
- Voice vs. Facebook
- Launching Feb 14th
- Social as it should be. We think social networking needs a rework. From bot mobs to data tracking and shady algorithms, social media isn't our friend. Cue Voice
- Stay tuned as we have no clue what Voice is going to look like. There will definitely be an update once we have access.
- SoMee.Social vs. Facebook
- Privacy-focused & Censorship resistant
- Multiple monetization options
- Content and curation rewards
- Advertising revenue sharing
- Social dashboard offers streamlined posting to all major social media from single platform.
OTHER SOCIAL ALTERNATIVES
- Karma vs. Instagram
- Karma — Social Media For Good.
- KARMA is a social network designed for those who create the value, to actually earn it. Users are incentivized to do good, share positive & original content and receive KARMA from every ‘like' their content receives.
- Telegram vs. Twitter
- Telegram is a cloud-based mobile and desktop messaging app with a focus on security and speed.
- In Telegram you can create groups to communicate & share information or you can message one-to-one.
- Bravo vs. Yelp
- BravoCoin is a blockchain-based consumer review platform with its own token called BRAVO that pays its community for writing and rating reviews of restaurants, hotels, service providers, coin, exchanges, dApps and more.
- Join me on Bravo — sociallypowered.com/bravo
- LBRY vs. YouTube
- LBRY is a secure, open, and community-run digital marketplace. Enjoy the latest content from your favorite creators—as a user, not a product.
- LBRY is a blockchain-based digital content protocol containing a digital library of content such as videos, music, games. LBRY reportedly has millions of pieces of content, ranging from Hollywood films to user-generated originals.
This are just a few of the platforms available on the blockchain. I couldn’t possibly go through them all in one show. However, I promise we will go into the most popular ones in upcoming episodes. Plus, we will see if we can get someone from the company to explain them further.
Let’s Power-up & get paid for posting!
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ADDITIONAL SOURCES:
https://101blockchains.com/why-blockchain-is-important/
https://www.beingcrypto.com/why-is-blockchain-important-for-business/
