This is part 2 in a series of articles comparing Decentr to 4 other social media and blogging platforms, Steemit, Hive, Medium and Reddit, that lay claim to be decentralised as regards their publishing, revenue and contributor payment/rewards models.
This article is a natural follow-on from our previous article comparing Steemit and Decentr: centralisation issues at Steemit came to a head when Justin Sun, of TRON fame, acquired control of Steemit in a hostile takeover, resulting in users revolting and hard forking Steemit to create Hive.
When Hive split, it copied the blockchain so that all the content published on Steem would again belong to Hive users, with the exception of the balances that had been controlled by the now-Sun-controlled Steemit Inc and its so-called “ninja-mined stake”.
Meanwhile, a lot of the major pillars of the community began moving over to Hive, and major holders of STEEM tokens have begun making moves to exit their positions.
So how does Hive compare to Steemit and indeed Decentr? Let’s compare the two systems, Hive and Decentr, in the context of Steemit:
1. PAYMENTS
Hive: Steemit decentralises power to some extent by allowing token holders to vote. However, Hive aims to replace the point of centralisation that allowed TRON to buyout the voting process. Hive’s solution is the Decentralised Hive Fund (DHF), which allows users to suggest proposals, fund those proposals, and cast a vote for their preferred changes. Unlike with Steemit’s reserve of “ninja mined” funds, Hive’s fund is set up so that, in theory, no actor (or group of actors) can have sole control over big changes.
Why This is a Problem
Hive’s genuine desire to replace the point of centralisation that allowed TRON to buyout the voting process cannot actually be achieved in the absence of a 100% decentralised publishing and economic model to support its goals, which Hive does not have.
The Steemit saga is really a battle over how to decentralise, and what decentralisation really means, and Hive does not have a fully cogent set of answers to these questions.
The real issue is, therefore, that what happened once with Steemit can happen again, this time with a different crypto billionaire waltzing in to turn the Hive social network into their personal public relations echo chamber. So, in the absence of a truly “decentralised” publishing solution, coupled with an incorruptible, decentralised revenue and payments model — and not just an ongoing Hive/Steemit-style debate as to whether decentralisation is about maximising network choice or sticking with better blockchain mechanisms — users are really only free to choose between networks that might one day seize their tokens.
Why Decentr is the Solution
As the value of DEC is supported by the creation of data value in the form of aggregate PDV, there is no possibility on the Decentr platform that posts can be “upvoted” or “downvoted” or in any way manipulated by the platform or platform owners themselves, or anyone using the platform. This is because Decentr assigns fluctuating value to PDV using co-operative game-theory. The basic assumption in cooperative game theory is that the overarching ideas, proofs, opinions, shared goals, etc will continue to evolve and be updated as a reflection of the wider community, with no possibility of influencing either content or the value applied to this by any third-party.
2. CRYPTOCURRENCY (DEC/HIVE)
HIVE: Steem decentralises power to some extent by allowing token holders to vote. However, Hive aims to replace the point of centralisation that allowed TRON to buyout the voting process. Hive’s solution is the Decentralised Hive Fund (DHF), which allows users to suggest proposals, fund those proposals, and cast a vote for their preferred changes. Unlike with Steem’s reserve of ninja-mined funds, Hive’s fund is set up so that, in theory, no actor (or group of actors) can have sole control over big changes.
DEC: By contrast, Decentr’s eponymous cryptocurrency, DEC, underpins data-as-value and hence has great utility as the sole exchange gateway, via our dEX, between data-into-fiat and fiat-into-data. DEC — by way of analogy with Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work (PoW) protocols — goes up as a result of our Proof-of-Engagement (PoE) protocols at around 8–10x aggregate PDV. This means that data generated as user content underpins and is underpinned by the DEC token, making contributor content uniquely valuable, in social and economic terms, to individual contributors and the wider decosystem.
3. CONCLUSION
On Decentr, those writers who through their inspiring words and unique ideas evoke the passion and commitment of their respective communities will always come out ahead. This is because the “value” of posts — both economic and social — will change overtime as the decosystem changes to reflect broader society. In no way can this system be gamed by any individual or third-party to artificially inflate or deflate the importance of a post or contributor, or the ideas or agenda expressed by this contributor.
On Decentr, creativity always trumps any attempt to artificially constrain it!
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We look forward to answering all your questions. Please find our official links below.
Official Links for Decentr:
Official Email Address: Admin@decentr.net
Official Website Link: https://decentr.net/
Official Telegram Discussion Group: https://t.me/DecentrNet
Official Telegram Announcements Channel: https://t.me/DecentrAnnouncements
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