Steemit & Dtube: Social Networking, Blogging, and Video Sharing in the Blockchain Era

Mainstream social media networks have devised an ingenious yet insidious business model.

It involves having users generate content and data that then gets collected and monetized by the network. You spend lots of time posting photos, writing comments, liking/sharing content created by others…and you do it all for free  

Users do all of the work. Corporations reap all of the profits.

As the world becomes more decentralized thanks to blockchain technology, however, arrangements like this one start to look less and less appealing. One day, we may look back on them and think, “how did anyone think this was cool, and why did anyone participate?”

The New Model: Steemit Rewards Users

The introduction of Steemit in 2016 was a hallmark moment in social media history. For the first time, users could be in control of their content.

On Steemit, no one owns or controls the network. Just like everything else built on blockchain, Steemit is decentralized.

How does it work? Steemit rewards users with STEEM for participating in the community. Create valuable content that others enjoy while being a positive member of the community, and you will earn STEEM.

The more upvotes your content gets, the more you earn. You also get STEEM when you upvote posts created by others.

Upvotes by veteran users with more STEEM Power generate more STEEM than upvotes by newbies. There are three things you can earn on Steemit:

– STEEM, which is the cryptocurrency that can be traded on exchanges,– STEEM dollars, a debt-like instrument that promises the holder $1 for every Steem dollar at some point in the future,– STEEM Power, which gives you greater influence over post payouts  

You can choose how you want your rewards distributed. The default is 50/50 STEEM tokens and STEEM dollars. Another option is to convert all of your STEEM and STEEM dollars into STEEM Power, a process called “powering up.”

Voting, sharing, and commenting all represent transactions in the STEEM blockchain. They can’t be reversed by anyone. While this is a great anti-censorship feature, it may annoy some users (think twice before you post anything embarrassing or compromising – there’s no “delete” button). That holds especially true for the video-sharing element of Steemit.

Video Sharing with Dtube

Dtube is Steemit’s video sharing platform. It’s like YouTube combined with Steemit. Users get rewarded for the content they create on Dtube in the same manner as Steemit.

When you share a video on Steemit, it will be posted to Dtube. Your Dtube account is connected to your Steemit account. You will need a separate password to log in, but other than that there’s little difference between the two.

It’s elegantly simple and ridiculously rewarding – both in terms of crypto and user experience.

Steemit and Dtube Represent a New User Experience

Steemit is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Still, by participating in the community, you can:

– Have an independent platform free of censorship– Be a part of crypto social network history– Have fun with other users experiencing the new paradigm

There is a slight learning curve when it comes to getting used to the way Steemit works. Users of Reddit may find the user-interface intuitive while others may struggle to adjust.

Thankfully, the Steemit FAQ answers most of your questions.

Blockchain technology has ushered in a new and exciting era of social networking.

Crypto Social Networks are the Future

Imagine what the future can hold for a decentralized crypto social network.

Everyone will be rewarded for sharing photos of their dog and what they had for dinner last night. Funny video of something that happened when you went out for drinks the other night? Share it! You could earn something from it on a crypto social network like Steemit.

And keep in mind that there are plenty of other crypto social networks out there. Steemit is just the first and is currently the most popular.

A new era of editorial freedom is also upon us. It’s not just about profit sharing with users. It’s about user empowerment.

Those long-winded political rants or controversial blog posts won’t get your account banned. Previous posts won’t be censored – everything will be secure and immutable in the blockchain.

While there are a few bots that patrol the Steemit community watching for spam and plagiarized content, there are a lot fewer trolls and almost zero censorship. Compared to what has become of the more mainstream networks, Steemit feels like a breath of fresh air for most users.

Once you go Steemit, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

[Originally posted on the BlockPulse blog: https://blockgroup.global/2019/06/16/steemit-dtube-social-networking-blogging-and-video-sharing-in-the-blockchain-era/] 

Blockchain and the Decentralized Revolution

Why was Bitcoin created?

This is an important question that often goes unasked in most modern discussions about Bitcoin. But to answer this question is to peer into the very heart of the decentralized revolution and to discover the meaning of crypto’s true value.

According to the Satoshi Nakamoto whitepaper, the Bitcoin protocol was invented in response to the financial crisis of 2008/2009. The crisis of 2008 saw the global economic and financial system brought to its knees by international banks.

In the eyes of the person or group who wrote the Bitcoin white paper, a new method of conducting financial transactions was necessary in the wake of this epic financial calamity. And many would agree with this premise.

Given that banks have trillions in derivatives on their books and only have a tiny fraction of capital to fall back on should those derivatives go bad, there needs to be a better way for individuals and institutions alike to store and exchange value.

JPMorgan Chase Bank alone has over 56 Trillion US dollars-worth of derivatives on its books. This is one of many problems that are fueling the decentralized revolution.

The Problem with the Existing Financial System

As we saw in 2008, the traditional banking system fuels fraud and corruption. Banks can be leveraged thousands of times over,  creating exponentially more systemic risk than if they were solvent institutions.

Banks are inherently insolvent. What this means is that by their very nature, banks, as we know them today, do not have anywhere near the number of assets that they need to cover their liabilities. The reason for this lies in the method that banks use to manage their assets – fractional reserve banking.

The term “fractional reserve” refers to a financial entity that only holds a portion of its assets in reserve. The rest of its assets are loaned out in order to earn interest. Today, banks typically hold about 10% of their deposits on-site. The remaining 90% is not really there.

The Dollar Is a Source of Global Instability: https://t.co/DSkaQZNHtI by @jamesgrickards $UUP $EEM pic.twitter.com/Uuy4Zj4byh

— Jesse Colombo (@TheBubbleBubble) July 2, 2018

This system works just fine so long as depositors don’t decide they need their money all at once. When this happens, the event is called a “bank run.” Bank runs cause banks to collapse. They cannot handle the demands placed on them as they do not have the assets necessary.

The concept of a bank run illustrates not only the fraudulent nature of fractional reserve banking but another perhaps more important feature of the financial system. You do not own the assets you hold in a bank. They are not really yours. They belong to the bank the moment you deposit them.

Financial Ownership in the Decentralized Revolution

With cryptocurrency, on the other hand, you are the sole owner of your cryptographic coins. You can store them in any manner you please. Transactions can be made independent of any third-party and can be done in private.

Crypto payments are the best way to move money from Point A to B!! Once the LTC or BTC is received, HODL it, spend it, or convert to FIAT. You decide what to do with your money, not a 3rd party(Banks) who have their own interests at heart!! #PayWithLitecoin #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/r1yVTccVaR

— Jon Moore (@jonnylitecoin) July 3, 2018

While this is certainly a giant leap forward for finance, the Bitcoin blockchain has run into its fair share of difficulties.

The most notable and often discussed difficulty is the ability to scale. Bitcoin was not built to handle large amounts of transactions or process them quickly.

As a result, Bitcoin has become more of a store of value than anything else. But other platforms promise to take its place as a medium of exchange and financial utility.

Avesta and the Decentralized Revolution

Avesta represents the next evolution of the decentralized revolution. With Avesta, financial transactions can be accomplished with ease, rapidity, and at low cost. The utility value is not limited as it is with other cryptocurrencies.

Avesta capitalizes on the intrinsic value of crypto to create additional ways to transact on the blockchain. Entertainment, banking, e-commerce and more can all be accomplished using Avesta.