A significant part of the draw of web 2 systems like X is that they are used to create social pressure/change. This only works as long as 'politicians' and other such figures use the system and people think they can reach or sway them... or if there enough people on the network as a whole that it seems that movements can grow to a significant size if they are formed there.
The inceptions of Twitter and Facebook were massively 'helped' by CIA funding and they were always intended to be a system of monitoring, control and power plays. Combined with there being no earlier equivalent technologies from which people needed to be lured away from, they grew exponentially through word of mouth.
Today they have the benefit of this history and so anyone wanting to challenge them needs to appreciate this dynamic and make use of it. This is exactly why I have always advocated for the free speech features of Hive and aimed to attract potentially powerful people/speakers to make use of Hive. Unfortunately, plenty of the current biggest holders of HP either don't understand this or don't want this to work for their own reasons. Coupled with the fact that the powerful people won't likely use a small network anyway, there is a huge barrier to being able to amplify Hive's network effect in these most efficient ways.
The combination of the right philosophy, the right technology and the right messaging to the right audiences can change all of this.
Can you summarise what this would be?
Well, that's a big question to answer and I don't have enough spare time at the moment - but it's something I will probably return to and blog about. A full answer to this is something that needs to evolve over time as a result of real world marketing and analysis of the data that is collected.
In summary though, at present, I can see the potential for a huge shift in the internet landscape as a result of Hive based technologies, but only once they deliver the promise that has always been lurking here but never actually realised. The efforts of the SPK project are generally pointing in the direction I am highlighting here: Tools to empower communities to create their own immutable online spaces, with their own token, their own rules and their own indestructible media hosting. Essentially, we take the power of Youtube from Google and the power of Twitter/Wordpress/Facebook from the corporations and we create the tools needed to give that power completely to the people - removing the middle men completely.
Once this is fully operational (it could be within a year from now), this then has to be proven to be effective and will be helped by some successful projects being promoted both organically and with deliberate marketing assistance. Who exactly the communities are that first make use of it and become popular is not something I can accurately predict, but it could be groups who have been heavily censored on web 2 or just future facing groups of technology minded individuals.
That's fabulous, thank you. I ask particularly because I will be part of a round table next week talking about blockchain and Hive. I'm going to add this post and your comment to the resources I've gathered over on this post about the event. We're talking especially about opportunities for creators because it's linked to the Business Festival, but I am hoping some community activists will be there as well.