Creator's Diary #5 - Where Steem and Meatspace Collide?

MEATSPACE: A term, originating from cyberpunk fiction and culture, referring to the real (that is, not virtual) world, the world of flesh and blood. somewhat tongue-in-cheek. the opposite of cyberspace.

I'm a huge fan of cryptocurrency and I've been an advocate for the technology since Bitcoin first came onto the scene. I think I bought my first bitcoin for $15 (if only we knew!).

We've all watched it grow and change. We've watched the shitcoins and the ICO scams. We've seen a few, solid ideas implemented and a lot of half baked ideas crash and burn. There's a lot of potential, and Steem looks like one of the few blockchains that stands to break out.

This begs the question, what does that mean for the real world? For the meatspace?

After all the math, encryption, blockchains, decentralization, anonymity, tokenization and vomit comets of anxiety that cryptocurrencies have brought us, we're still left with one hell of a vexing problem. How do we marry cyberspace and meatspace in an easy, fun, meaningful and productive way as an every day, average person? You might say that Steem is already doing this, but it's difficult communicating to someone like my mother all the benefits a platform like Steem has to offer. Not only that, but I work with very tech savvy individuals in film production, and even most of them find it confusing and have trouble connecting the dots. They can't see why Steem is such a big deal and it's mechanics often get in the way.

Now, I don't have a technological solution to this, and I don't know if one exists, but perhaps what we really need is more of a dialogue and outreach programs to highlight all the ways that as productive people - be it filmmakers, musicians, authors, writers, engineers or scientists - are managing to build something on this platform.

That said, I've been searching for a way to support Steem outside of just writing the occasional article on @busy or posting a photo on @steepshot. I can't code and I'm not a whale. I enjoy meeting and being around people, I make films and I enjoy telling stories.

So what am I to do as a creator? How can I bring my love for Steem into the real world and better marry it to my work?

First, we need more gatherings outside of the platform and they need to be intentional. I've found some Steem meetups - here's the Los Angeles one. I've joined, but this particular Meetup appears to be a little inactive. If Steem is to be a social platform, we need to make it more social. Take it to the streets! So if any of you are in LA, you might want to sign up and encourage the organizer to host some more events, preferably in places where we can get a drink and mingle. That's the point after all.

Second, I'm thinking about creating a video series for my YouTube channel A Distant Signal documenting the intersection between Steem - and only Steem - the real world and how it's changing the lives of its users.

I'm going to be launching a short film campaign on @fundition soon - #changelings - and that's what got me thinking more deeply about taking Steem into the real world. It's such a fabulous idea and the platform appears to be a serious contender for becoming a dominant crowdfunding platform in both #meatspace and #cyperspace.

Out of all the crypto that I've dabbled in over the years, only Steem has really captured my imagination, and it's because it has so much potential to elevate individuals and social media to a productive, money making sphere where we are much closer to being owners and / or investors in the actual medium. This is why I want to try and find a way to support the platform more.

I could build a witness server, but I'm worried that will take too much time away from my video production. I'm hoping that by working through some of these ideas in video form, I can not only help the community, but narrow down my ideas into something more palpable.

I've got a thousand ideas on what I could do, but I'm best at making films.

SUBJECTS MIGHT INCLUDE:

1. Tutorials about interfaces such as DTube and DLive, how to seed your videos to ensure they never leave the IPFS system and how that's already affecting independent filmmakers
2. Artists / authors of the day / week / month - you get the idea
3. Development news about the most active Steem skins
4. Events in the Meatspace and what they're accomplishing
5. Comment on a Steemit article that I find interesting

These are just a few ideas, and I would love it if you have any feedback on what the video series could include. Also, if there's anyone who's interested in contributing to this idea, drop me a comment.

Phil

WHO DIS IS

If you want to know who I am and what Distant Signal is, check this out. It's sort of a manifesto. The TL;DR is that I've won an award for producing, make a lot of reality TV, live in LA and think that artist and media incentives are misaligned and serve large corporations and not independent artists.

I’M PART OF STEEMFILM COMMUNITY

CHANGELINGS

The fist horror / thriller film made on and with the Steem blockchain. Use this hashtag to find out all about it!

MORE DISTANT SIGNAL

YOUTUBE
WEBSITE
PATREON
STEEMIT

I TAKE CRYPTO

Monero - 48NMrZPCKUm4J66b1vcZ2q9izF4yoSFJ6KvfFtBC3ZjMMv4FCky9LRm445TKvts5pw9Lo2rVx85KRXH9Nc2JKpkH14EXP5U
Litecoin -LR7WauUkXse8fdNwaYhdaua3ziXseFmUPo
Ethereum - 0xD167b23385B3fFca651ACC2948BCC14e554d22B3
Dogecoin - DGqwbUQvm273E9pTxgKhyb7PjJQEPW5F51

MISSION

To create narratives, comedies and documentaries that are short, fun, interesting and cinematic.