So what's new?

Hello bees of the Hive... or whatever it is you call yourselves now that steemianism is over.

So what's new?? I want to know everything!

I guess I'll start. You might know me, you might not. I'm from Ireland and I used to host a podcast on the steem blockchain and left around the time Ned sold the steemit account to Tron. My brother @demotruk was keeping me updated about the witness takeover but I couldn't watch.

I also needed the break. I had gone back to working full time and felt I wasn't producing the same quality of live shows and content with less time. But I really needed to take that time back for myself and my physical and mental health thanks me for it.

Here's a little video to say HI. I hope you didn't miss me as much as I missed so many of you.

Let's hope that embeds...

Besides getting back to the corporate world of 9-5, I escaped a scam in Iceland, escaped a kidnapping in India, performed in a circus, been to 4 European counties escaping lockdowns and welcomed 5 new people into the family. So there were plenty of close calls and celebrations despite a depressingly long winter.

I see myself as my own hero, obnoxious as that might sound. But I do have the attitude that if I'm not living, I'm dying and this is the only life, the only time I have in this world. And that's why I want to come back to writing and podcasting about blockchain and decentralisation.

To keep my spirit high on life, I can leave places that don't bring me joy, to be replaced by another. But for some things, like our corrupted politics & institutions, there aren't always sufficient alternatives. I imagine a future where blockchains serve as the equivalent of institutions that can either be forked or abandoned when they don't serve their purpose. Just like how steem became Hive.

If you're reading this and you don't know what Hive is about, all I can tell you right now is there is no central ownership of this social network. Just like bitcoin is not controlled by banks. This too is decentralised, meaning the rules are determined by the entire network of users who become the stakeholders.

The blockchain determines the rules but I see each person involved as sovereign. This is because autonomy has to be granted by whoever is sovereign. The rules were written (or voted on) by the stakeholders and apply to all stakeholders.

• So imagine an institution that you know is corrupt.
• Think about why or how it got corrupted.
• Now imagine it has no central authority, is decentralised and has autonomy granted by the sovereign individuals who choose to support it.
• Imagine you, and everyone like you who requires this institution to function is a stakeholder.
• Do you think the same corruption could occur?
• If so, imagine you could just take a snapshot of when this institution was working before and with the help of your community and a blockchain developer, simply clone the institution from the time of that snapshot, leaving the corrupt individuals behind.

That is what blockchain can enable and I hope the Hive community will correct me if I'm wrong, but that final point is my understanding of how Steem became Hive.

I'm not a blockchain developer and I don't have the skills to implement what I wish to discuss. This is just a seed I'm passionate about planting among the large communities of people waking up to the importance of personal autonomy, liberty & sovereignty. Although I have some experience of the preceding social network, a lot has changed since. I plan on passing on what I learn to you.

Thanks for reading. Click the link to subscribe on telegram:
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