Careful readers may notice that I refer to our platform here as the Steem platform, as opposed to Steemit.com. There is a deliberate reason for this, which is the topic of tonight's post. But before we go into the differences, I want to compare and contrast Steem with a dead social media platform I just heard about yesterday: tsu.co.
Tsu was a centralized social media network site that used incentives to try to bring more and more users to it. To the best of my understanding, Tsu operated a bit like a Multi Level Marketing plan, of which I have no interest. The company behind Tsu was to reap 10% of the ad revenue, while giving 90% to those who used the platform. The ads really made you the product. Ugh...
I'm not going to spend much time looking into why Tsu failed, but there is a real difference between Tsu and Steem that is important for the non technical to understand.
That difference is the blockchain. That difference is everything.
With Tsu, every user had to trust that the company behind it was honest. As it was, when Tsu shut down, users with less than $100 of earnings didn't get paid, and only those who actually reached out to the company were able to collect some of their earnings.
Blockchains and Trust
Some people will say the blockchain removes the need for trust, but that is inaccurate. The blockchain does reduce and redistribute the need for trust. I still have to trust that the 20 witnesses we've voted for aren't colluding to ruin the Steem blockchain. I trust that the website Steemit.com doesn't take my Active Key when I make a transaction. I trust that the developers who designed Steem are using math algorithms that can't be hacked, and I trust the crowd to alert me if any of these things begin to happen.
What the blockchain does do is give me much more power over my Steem, and I don't need to rely on the website Steemit.com to be up and running to access it.
You can access it via the desktop wallet, Vessel!
Vessel allows you to do all the functions you can do with your wallet on Steemit.com (and Busy.org), even if Steemit.com is not loading properly. This is because the Steem blockchain is run by nearly 15,000 witnesses (EDIT: Thanks to @glenalbrethsen who pointed out it is more like 100 active ones). It is is these witnesses who would need to be attacked to cripple the Steem blockchain, which is considerably more difficult than one company with a few server locations.
This isn't to say it can't happen. We are in the infancy of blockchains, and we don't know what a sustained attack looks like.
It does mean that your Steem isn't held hostage in case of a DDoS attack (the sort that brings down a hospital or a website with a sudden uptick in users) from somebody in their basement. The longer we see Steem go without a successful attack, the more we can trust the system is robust enough to withstand attacks.
Of course, it could all come down overnight, and we could find our social network as dead as Tsu. I hope not...but that's why I'll always be crossposting my stuff on another site, so I can keep that which I worked hardest to obtain: my growing body of work.
Have any horror stories of Tsu we can learn from? Let us know in the comments below.
-Jeff
Check out my book for more information on cryptocurrency trading. Free for Amazon Unlimited readers!
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://steemmaker.com/how-to-not-panic-if-steemit-com-is-unavailable/
You keep finding all kinds of things I never knew about and didn't know I didn't know about! This vessel wallet is something I definitely need to check out because I really don't like it when the Steemit wallet is buggy, as it has been the last week or so, and often all by itself.
So, thanks for the information.
I'm wondering about the number of active witnesses, though. I can't remember where now, but I was commenting on a post that there appeared to be nearly 15,000 witnesses because that's the number given on steemworld.org.
However, I was corrected by someone who said that most of those witnesses nodes are no longer in service, and that it's more like a 100 and something. They then provided this link:
https://steemian.info/witnesses
The link shows the top 400 witnesses, but after you get below 100, the majority of the rest begin to red line. So, maybe you know that (I didn't) but because you quoted the 15,000 number like I did a while back on a different post, I thought I'd pass the info along, just in case.
And I promise not to panic anymore when the Steemit wallet goes down. At least not much. :)
Ooh, outstanding! Thanks for the info-I haven't seen this list before. I'll adjust my post above to reflect it.
Crossposting. I need to do that too. Where do you cross post your stuff and why did you choose what you did? The question behind my question is that I am only active on Steemit so far and need to explore / gather info.
Also, an etiquette question, can I take the stuff I’ve posted here over the last six months (I haven’t been doing this long) and post elsewhere until aim caught up, or is that frowned upon? Best to cross post simultaneously once caught up....but is there anything wrong with the catching up idea?
I liked this post and agree — trust is still a factor here but it is placed differently. Thanks for some well stated ideas.
I cross post on my blog, SteemMaker.com, which I started a few weeks ago.
I chose the name because I wanted Steem in it and also a .com domain.
I chose WordPress to use for hosting software because of SteemPress, so cross posting is a snap.
This way I have a much more concise record of all that I have written. I can organize my stuff there easily; not so much here.
And yes, you can absolutely cross post your stuff from Steem. If it is your content, then do what you like with it! I have been posting 9 month old work...
I didn't know there was desktop wallet. I will be checking out. Thank you for the information, I'm sharing it with my followers.
Thanks for the share!
Your welcome.
I'm surprised I never heard of TSU, I guess Facebook blocked all info about it. 😂
This past week, a couple of Steem apps. haven't been working correctly. I'm not sure what the deal is. SteemD has been double notifying all activities. Even Busy has been acting up. I'm hoping that it's just updating issues. I'll have to look into Vessel for my desktop. 😎
(you hear an engine rev and horn honk)
MEEP! MEEP!
(the window on the humvee rolls down to reveal a warm smiling face)
"Hello! I'm @shadow3scalpel and with the help of my protege, @chairborne, we are actively assisting veterans, retirees and active servicemen and women here on Steemit. We feel it is our 'duty' to support each other. Any questions or comments you may have, simply respond to this comment, thank you!"
(the window rolls up and the engine roars as it drives to the next person on the list)
Comment by @killerwhale. This is a opt-in bot.
Great post i didn't know about the option to have a desktop wallet for steem
I don't panic, probable because I'm new. But I'm also practical so I will get the desktop wallet. Thanks!
Really great location and really wonderful information well done my friend
You are a successful person