Thoughts on Decentralized Video Platforms in A Post-
@LBRYcom-Lawsuit World:
Over the years, several content creators have tried- a number of times- to rally behind new
#decentralized micropublishing (blog/vlog/pod) platforms.
Especially in a world filled with AI deepfakes- damn good/funny ones too (looking at you
@thedorbrothers)- there is an increasingly urgent need to commit our new, authentic media, to a properly hashed append-only ledger system, to verify authenticity- and be sure that the platforms themselves are not editorializing everything we create. Because the tech should not allow them to.
"Blockchain actually fixes this problem!"
Sure it does, anon... At least on paper.
Many have been praying for something to compete against the likes of YouTube, Insta, and TikTok- to give us a viable "un-deepfake-able backup" of our content libraries away from just [X].
On the advertiser side:
This "alternative" has to;
1. Garner massive mainstream support
2. Not be shut down by SEC lawsuits
... all before it is commercially viable to advertisers. Otherwise it will be yet another crypto pet rock.
On the creator side:
Everybody in the content creation game needs;
1. Fire content
2. That is discoverable
3. To new followers
4. Who actually buy stuff
5. On platforms that already have mass appeal in developed nations, so that the new followers actually buy stuff in Dollars, not f*cking Pesos.
Brand new platforms don't offer this.
Esoteric NFT platforms also don't offer this.
They can't.
Even the existing micropublishing platforms like [X] just barely work with the older ad revenue models, and are subject to huge volatile swings in advertiser intent- but they can only work at scale on the end consumer side.
Advertisers demand real consumers in exchange for their marketing budgets.
And real masses of consumers are already considered a commodity.
Every time we as creators have tried to peel users off of YT/TikTok in order to do that work FOR those platforms, the incumbents have punished us.
Daily active users on established platforms
YouTube: ~2,700,000,000
Rumble: ~134,310,000
X: ≥121,000,000
BitChute: ~56,370,000
Odysee: ~500k (SEC lawsuit = very mega fully cooked)
See the discrepancy?
Even just personally, as "MineYourBiz", I've rallied behind several alternatives.
Where are they now?
Steemit: ~4,000,000 DAU
DTube: <10k
DLive (the one that PewdiePie shilled): <9k
BitTube: (defunct)
Flote: (defunct)
SoMee: <2k
It's hard to get mainstream viewers lured over platforms like these for regular daily use because 99% of their IRL friends would NEVER JOIN.
Additionally, algorithms are used to autonomously punish creators who mention anything other than their NATIVE PLATFORM in their livestreams, CTA's, and especially their descriptions.
Sure, some creators manage to punch through it a little bit, but...
Is it really the job of some crypto influencer with real, organic, active daily viewers of their own, to fill the user base of some wildly speculative new video platform?
Is that really what they have expertise in?
Userbase platform migration..?
Is that really what we want them staking their reputations on (over & over)?!
A friend reminded me of this headache recently when he asked me about my opinions on permaweb publishing.
(Dude nearly gave me PTSD)
His DM was a slap-in-the-face reminder that for years we've been trying, unsuccessfully, as a culture to practice what we preach- permissionlessness, decentralization, censorship-resistance (VASTLY different from corporo-state approved "free speech"), and circular token economies that solve real incentive alignment problems.
Instead we just keep seeing:
1. Well-intentioned projects with viable tech who get massive amounts of unwanted regulatory attention.
2. Cash grabs taking advantage of a cheap referral network.
3. More censorship/chilling over time, leading to fewer real innovations.
Look [X], Rumble, & BitChute are probably the heroes we deserve right now- but we have genuinely lowered our standards and, as blockchain technologists, are living waaaaay below our privilege.
Don't even get me started on the current state of
#Privacy across all major social platforms- need a separate rant just for that.
But if you're like me and you still want to find that perfectly market-viable permaweb publishing solution (or think you've already found it), then tell me in a comment:
What do you think is working?
What do you think needs fixing?
What are you personally developing?
Until we "get there", enjoy the horrifying reality of AI already being better at dreaming than you are:
x.com/thedorbrothers/status/…