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Steemit & Dtube: Social Networking, Blogging, and Video Sharing in the Blockchain Era

Mainstream social media networks have devised an ingenious yet insidious business model.

It involves having users generate content and data that then gets collected and monetized by the network. You spend lots of time posting photos, writing comments, liking/sharing content created by others…and you do it all for free.

Users do all of the work. Corporations reap all of the profits.

As the world becomes more decentralized thanks to blockchain technology, however, arrangements like this one start to look less and less appealing. One day, we may look back on them and think, “how did anyone think this was cool, and why did anyone participate?”

The New Model: Steemit Rewards Users

The introduction of Steemit in 2016 was a hallmark moment in social media history. For the first time, users could be in control of their content.

On Steemit, no one owns or controls the network. Just like everything else built on blockchain, Steemit is decentralized.

How does it work? Steemit rewards users with STEEM for participating in the community. Create valuable content that others enjoy while being a positive member of the community, and you will earn STEEM.

The more upvotes your content gets, the more you earn. You also get STEEM when you upvote posts created by others.

Upvotes by veteran users with more STEEM Power generate more STEEM than upvotes by newbies. There are three things you can earn on Steemit:

– STEEM, which is the cryptocurrency that can be traded on exchanges,– STEEM dollars, a debt-like instrument that promises the holder $1 for every Steem dollar at some point in the future,– STEEM Power, which gives you greater influence over post payouts

You can choose how you want your rewards distributed. The default is 50/50 STEEM tokens and STEEM dollars. Another option is to convert all of your STEEM and STEEM dollars into STEEM Power, a process called “powering up.”

Voting, sharing, and commenting all represent transactions in the STEEM blockchain. They can’t be reversed by anyone. While this is a great anti-censorship feature, it may annoy some users (think twice before you post anything embarrassing or compromising – there’s no “delete” button). That holds especially true for the video-sharing element of Steemit.

Video Sharing with Dtube

Dtube is Steemit’s video sharing platform. It’s like YouTube combined with Steemit. Users get rewarded for the content they create on Dtube in the same manner as Steemit.

When you share a video on Steemit, it will be posted to Dtube. Your Dtube account is connected to your Steemit account. You will need a separate password to log in, but other than that there’s little difference between the two.

It’s elegantly simple and ridiculously rewarding – both in terms of crypto and user experience.

Steemit and Dtube Represent a New User Experience

Steemit is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Still, by participating in the community, you can:

– Have an independent platform free of censorship– Be a part of crypto social network history– Have fun with other users experiencing the new paradigm

There is a slight learning curve when it comes to getting used to the way Steemit works. Users of Reddit may find the user-interface intuitive while others may struggle to adjust.

Thankfully, the Steemit FAQ answers most of your questions.

Blockchain technology has ushered in a new and exciting era of social networking.

Crypto Social Networks are the Future

Imagine what the future can hold for a decentralized crypto social network.

Everyone will be rewarded for sharing photos of their dog and what they had for dinner last night. Funny video of something that happened when you went out for drinks the other night? Share it! You could earn something from it on a crypto social network like Steemit.

And keep in mind that there are plenty of other crypto social networks out there. Steemit is just the first and is currently the most popular.

A new era of editorial freedom is also upon us. It’s not just about profit sharing with users. It’s about user empowerment.

Those long-winded political rants or controversial blog posts won’t get your account banned. Previous posts won’t be censored – everything will be secure and immutable in the blockchain.

While there are a few bots that patrol the Steemit community watching for spam and plagiarized content, there are a lot fewer trolls and almost zero censorship. Compared to what has become of the more mainstream networks, Steemit feels like a breath of fresh air for most users.

Once you go Steemit, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

Twitter Takes on Decentralization with New Social Media Development Project

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is working on an initiative to decentralize social media, also known as ‘BlueSky,’ alongside five other programmers. Previously, Twitter was known for its decentralized aspect in its early days, and many of its users advocating for it to be that way. With time, the company was influenced by the development of the internet, which Dorsey recognizes to have new challenges – e.g., losing the value of content hosting measures and still gaining tools to redirect the attention of the masses.

His latest initiative will include five developers looking to write codes for this project. Dorsey has dedicated funds for this new project, which ultimately will put social media platforms on blockchain.

Equally, this will make way for censorship resistance and other intricate features that will grab the attention of today’s consumers. At present, the team working on the project, including independent architects and coders. Twitter is not claiming sole ownership of the project; instead, it will join the platform between the client and assist it as an external protocol.

Some of the positive attributes of this project include it circulating in the blockchain space as opposed to trying to compete with mainstream media. Essentially, a blockchain startup has the potential to reach similar levels of recognition by requesting for articles to be written on them.

Image via Shutterstock

TikTok Owners Launch Blockchain and AI company with Shanghai Dongfang Newspaper

As reported on Dec. 14, Bloomberg broke the news confirming that ByteDance and Shanghai Dongfang Newspaper Company have started a joint venture that has already secured $1.4 million in capital.

The major video-sharing social network service TikTok owned by ByteDance has begun to develop blockchain, AI and other business models to further break into emerging markets. TikTok has seen a huge rise in popularity with over 500 million monthly active users and is one of the most downloaded applications in the App Store in the U.S. – currently ranked third while making the top 10 in China’s rankings.

TikTok has continued to grow since acquiring Musical.ly, a large lip-sync video company that shows users singing to backtracks In 2017. This latest investment from ByteDance is a very clear indication that they see much more potential in the market.

The newly formed Chinese backed company has been registered under Pengpai Audiovisual Technology Co. The business is split into two, with 49% owned by ByteDance, and 51% owned by Shanghai Dongfang Newspaper company.

They will aim to provide a list of new services using Blockchain and AI for public services and Internet data, AI applications and development. Developing in blockchain opens up the possibility to further offer increased security for digital media and verification purposes for users, with social media collecting large amounts of data, big data blockchain-based securities could be the major focuses and reasons why the partnership has emerged.

It is not entirely clear what the next steps will be, as no further information has currently been released from either party. But yet again, this is another step for Chinese backed companies maturing into blockchain markets to jump further ahead of the competition. With such a major app globally paving the way, it asks the question if we will see more investment in Blockchain from others. This is an ideal opportunity to see how the markets will advance, with bigger applications and companies helping spread more awareness.

Image via Shutterstock

FinCEN Warns Social Media Companies Involved in Crypto to be Vigilant Regarding Illicit Transactions

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has urged social media and messaging companies that are working with on cryptocurrencies to be vigilant about illegal transactions.

Jamal El-Hindi, the Deputy Director of the FinCEN spoke at the SIFMA twentieth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Financial Crimes Conference in New York. Along with the agency’s publication, these social media companies have been warned that they “cannot turn a blind eye to illicit transactions that they might be fostering,” focusing on the establishment of cryptocurrencies.

He suggested that information sharing and know-your-customer (KYC) processes may be discouraged because of the nature of the industry, which is highly competitive. Only 14% of all entities in the securities sector are eligible to register for one of the key information-sharing mechanisms, choose to share the information.

He added, “Social media and messaging platforms and others now focusing on the establishment of cryptocurrencies cannot turn a blind eye to illicit transactions that they may be fostering.”

El-Hindi also warned of the responsibility of the traditional financial sector, “To the extent that the financial sector chooses to move forward with […] these emerging systems […] we are not going to allow it to slide backward on the protections and appropriate transparency that we have collectively worked so hard to weave into the financial system.”

The heads of the three major US financial regulators have issued a joint statement warning the cryptocurrency industry to adhere to banking regulations in the development of digital assets. The joint statement was signed by Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Heath Tarbert, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Director Kenneth Blanco and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton. The statement reiterates that digital assets must comply with the various banking and financial services laws already in place in the US. In October 2019, Kenneth Blanco, the Director of the FinCEN warned crypto firms that they are not exempted from AML laws as well.

Image via Shutterstock

Facebook, Google, Twitter Face $600 Million Class Action Lawsuit Over Cryptocurrency Ad Ban

Facebook, Google, and Twitter have been slammed in a class-action lawsuit over a 2018 cryptocurrency ad ban. The lawsuit was instigated by a group of cryptocurrency businesses and individuals who claim that the ban placed by these social media giants has hurt their businesses. The claimants are being represented by a Sydney-based firm JPB Liberty.

The lawsuit is a no-win-no-fee case and is awaiting funding to file as the allegedly affected companies and individuals expect more people to join the lawsuit. Should the firms be indicted, they risk paying $600 million (A$872million) in claims, a figure that could rise to $300 billion (A$436 billion) as more people join the cause.

Since most cryptocurrency exchanges were not regulated back in 2018 as the claimants observed, the advertisement ban had prevented them from legitimate businesses from using social media platforms to drive their business growth. Should the lawsuit end up in the claimant’s favor, the settlement fee will be split 30 to 70 between funders and the claimants.

Prevalence of Lawsuit in the Crypto Ecosystem

Lawsuits are commonplace in the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem. Back in April, Ripple (XRP) filed a lawsuit against Google-owned Youtube for failing to take action to prevent consumers from being swindled by “Giveaway” perpetrated using fake social media profiles.

JPMorgan Chase also paid $2.5 million to settle a lawsuit over unannounced changes made to the fee structure applied to crypto transactions by customers using its credit cards in 2018. As many lawsuits are spiked by different causes, the three social media giants indicted in the JPB Liberty may claim to justify the ban they placed as Australia is particularly prone to cryptocurrency-related scams.

As the three firms prepare for what is ahead, twitter is having a particularly challenging time following the hack of the platform in the past week.

Could Twitter Bitcoin Hack Have Been Prevented? Twitter Faces Heat From SEC

There is ongoing speculation that the massive Bitcoin hack that overtook Twitter on July 15 could have been prevented if Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and his multi-billion dollar social networking company had taken matters into their own hands and addressed the security concerns outlined by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2015.

SEC Warns Twitter About Security Breaches

When detailing Twitter’s 10-K annual report in 2015, the SEC had warned of a potential attack breakout if security concerns were not addressed and fixed by Dorsey and co. Under the “Risk Factors” section of the report, it read:

“Our security measures may also be breached due to employee error, malfeasance, or otherwise. Additionally, outside parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees, users or advertisers to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to our data or our users’ or advertisers’ data or accounts, or may otherwise obtain access to such data or accounts.”

Twitter Employees Get The Inside Scoop

In the past, many of Twitter Inc.’s employees and contractors have had exclusive access to the confidential side of the social networking company.

Many possessed the admin information that enabled them to bypass security parameters set by Twitter. Consequently,Twitter employees were able to reset Twitter users’ accounts and override their security settings, a problem that CEO Jack Dorsey and his board of directors were warned about multiple times.

Former Employees Confirm Twitter Breaches

Former employees of Twitter have spoken up on the matter and confirmed the security concerns.They have said that there are over 1,500 workers at Twitter Inc. who can reset user accounts, review user breaches and respond to potential content violations for the social platform’s 186 million daily users.

Though the breadth of personal data most of these workers could access is still relatively limited, this is usually the starting point if one wished to snoop or hack an account.

Following Beyonce’s Twitter Trail

Two former employees came forward and said that at some point in 2017-2018, the security controls were so porous that contractors would make “a kind of game out of creating bogus help-desk inquiries that allowed them to peek into celebrity accounts, including Beyonce’s, to track the stars’ personal data including their approximate locations gleaned from their devices’ IP addresses.”

CEO Dorsey Shoots Himself In The Foot

To make matters worse, when commenting on the massive Bitcoin hack that took over Twitter a few weeks ago, CEO Jack Dorsey and his team have said that the huge security breach may have been an inside job, and that an employee might have enabled the Bitcoin cybercriminals to gain access to high-security internal admin for Twitter.

This was one of the hypotheses that could explain the successful hack, with Bitcoin scam artists taking control of celebrity verified accounts, that included but were not restricted to the platforms of Elon Musk, Kanye West, Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Kim Kardashian, Wiz Khalifa, Joe Biden, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg, among many others.

Twitter had said that this might just be the biggest hack that it has experienced in its history. When issuing a report on their platform to appease Twitter users, they said:

“We detected what we believe to be a coordinated social engineering attack by people who successfully targeted some of our employees with access to internal systems and tools. We know they used this access to take control of many highly-visible (including verified) accounts and Tweet on their behalf.”

Binance, Kraken, Gemini, Coinbase Also Involved

The Bitcoin heist generated a sum of more than $100, 000 worth of Bitcoin. The accounts of high-profile coin exchanges were also compromised. When speaking up about the Twitter mass attack, CEO of Kraken Jesse Powell expressed through writing:

“This hack shows that security is about layers of protection. Somebody has to be watching the admins and setting up alerts to watch for these vulnerabilities.”

Twitter Works on Tracking Down Offenders

Investigations are still ongoing at the time of writing to uncover the identities of the Bitcoin thieves.

Twitter CEO has said that it will post updates regarding investigations, as the social networking company is working in collaboration with law enforcement to track down the cyber culprits.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and LINK Could Benefit From Trump's TikTok Ban

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order that seeks to ban TikTok from the United States, following the controversy that the Chinese-owned app raises serious security concerns and that it collects personal information on its users.

Trump Bans TikTok, Microsoft Wants It

TikTok, which is currently owned by ByteDance LTD, has been receiving a lot of backlash lately due to the privacy concerns that were addressed by the White House. Trump has issued a ban on the video-sharing app, as it allegedly has been collecting data on its users’ security and therefore is a serious national concern for the 80 million Americans using the social platform. In light of the pandemic, Gen Z has taken to TikTok and popularized it exponentially, with TikTok boasting of more than 2 billion downloads worldwide, and over 150 million of it originating from the US.

However, with Trump’s orders, the ban will be in full effect in 45 days. This would prohibit TikTok from being uploaded from Apple and Google’s App Stores. Incidentally, though TikTok originates from China, the video-sharing app is also banned on Chinese soil.

With the app being up for grabs, tech giant Microsoft has said that they are working to acquire the TikTok from China’s ByteDance LTD. Microsoft has addressed Trump’s privacy concerns and said that it is committed to acquiring the video-sharing platform, and it will ensure that it passes a complete security review prior to adoption. The multinational tech company has also pointed out that the video-sharing app has reaped significant economic benefits for the US and the United States Treasury Department.

The Rise of Cryptocurrencies

With China and the US caught in high political tensions and the global economy undergoing an unsteady shift due to the pandemic, crypto traders are looking to secure their digital assets, with the recent bull run of digital currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Ripple (XRP) on the market.

Over the weekend, ChainLink also outdid itself and its native token LINK surged by a record-high of 52 percent. At the beginning of 2020, LINK’s price was estimated to be around $1.73, but with its recent performance on the crypto market, LINK reached an all-time high of $13,88. ChainLink has greatly benefitted from the rise of decentralized finance apps and is currently ranked sixth in terms of market capitalization on CoinMarketCap.

Branching Out to Blockchain

Due to the escalating US-China political tensions, investors appear to be increasingly seeking out alternative investments such as digital currencies, as it runs on decentralized ledgers and open source technologies. Cryptocurrencies are therefore not regulated by the State, and its open-source aspect provides security for traders.

As they run on a distributed protocol, blockchain technology might be a more secure way to diverge. While applications are attached to legal liabilities and sanctions, blockchain operates on servers and nodes worldwide. It is also harder to prohibit protocols than to ban applications, according to Forbes.

With privacy concerns being an ongoing issue that tech companies have to deal with as they find a middle ground between intrusiveness and privacy, blockchain technology has been an interesting alternative, as blockchain provides a decentralized platform, security, and lower costs. Blockchain is the underlying technology that cryptocurrencies are leveraged on, and though some countries have banned the use of cryptocurrencies, blockchain is still leveraged by companies.

Facebook Bans Bitcoin Content—A Push for Libra?

Facebook users have been reporting that there has been a new ban on Bitcoin-related content, however, other cryptocurrencies have been excluded from this ban.

On Facebook posts that include videos, photos, and messages have been censored if they have a #Bitcoin hashtag involved, and the public has been blocked from accessing any information related to the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

However, on another social media platform, Twitter, users were able to discuss the issue of Facebook banning Bitcoin, as Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey is a fan of the cryptocurrency. Dorsey has discussed openly about Bitcoin on multiple occasions, and even his company Square has also recently invested in Bitcoin.

A tweet regarding the recent ban read:

“Bitcoin censored on Facebook! I was searching for #Bitcoin content on Facebook and apparently that hashtag is under a “temporary” ban. This is outrageous. Please retweet!.”

Although Facebook has banned Bitcoin-related posts, other cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Cardano, and even other alleged scams were available for search on the social media platform. However, only the Bitcoin hashtag related posts are not available on Facebook, searching for the term Bitcoin itself has not been censored by the platform.

Not the first time Facebook has banned cryptocurrency

Facebook has banned cryptocurrency products and services previously in 2018. The social media platform said that it was open to emerging technologies, only to those who are acting in “good faith.” During the initial coin offering (ICO) boom, Facebook responded with:

“We want people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without fear of scams or deception. That said, there are many companies who are advertising binary options, ICOs and crypto-currencies that are not currently operating in good faith.”

The company even said that cryptocurrencies could harm its users’ interests, and that the policy put in place would help to detect deceptive and misleading advertising practices.

Facebook later allowed cryptocurrency ads again, and even decided to launch its own digital asset, Libra. The stablecoin has faced a range of regulatory hurdles, and its launch has been halted. Facebook has not issued any statement in regards to the latest Bitcoin hashtag ban at press time.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Expresses Passion for Bitcoin in Thread Justifying Twitter Ban of President Trump

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has laid out his reasoning for Twitter’s decision to ban United States President Donald Trump from the platform following last week’s attack on the Capitol, also taking the opportunity to express his “passion” for Bitcoin and its decentralized control.

In a multi-part thread, Dorsey explained the reasons for the action to silence President Trump on the US leader’s favourite social media platform—Twitter and concluded that it was the right action to take. In the last tweet of his thread, Dorsey praised Bitcoin as a “technology that is not controlled or influenced by any single individual or entity.”

Dorsey alluded to and defended against the speculation that the removal of Parler, a renowned conservative social media platform, from both the Apple and Google app stores was a coordinated action from tech giants against the President in the wake of the attack on the Capitol.

The Twitter CEO said:

“I do not believe this was coordinated […] More likely: companies came to their own conclusions or were emboldened by the actions of others.”

Dorsey also addressed the long-held accusations of Twitter’s leftist bias against President Trump and assured the public that contrary to popular belief—banning the president from the platform was not something he enjoyed.

Dorsey Tweeted:

“I do not celebrate or feel pride in our having to ban @realDonaldTrump from Twitter, or how we got here. After a clear warning we’d take this action, we made a decision with the best information we had based on threats to physical safety both on and off Twitter. Was this correct?”

The Twitter CEO was adamant that the giant social media platform’s hand was forced by the extreme circumstances following the attack on the Capitol. He said, “I believe this was the right decision for Twitter. We faced an extraordinary and untenable circumstance, forcing us to focus all of our actions on public safety. Offline harm as a result of online speech is demonstrably real, and what drives our policy and enforcement above all.”

Dorsey further advocated that he does see the move as extreme and believes that the action taken should not become commonplace for social media platforms:

“This moment in time might call for this dynamic, but over the long term it will be destructive to the noble purpose and ideals of the open internet[…]having to ban an account has real and significant ramifications [..] sets a precedent I feel is dangerous: the power an individual or corporation has over a part of the global public conversation.”

Jack Dorsey expressed in the thread his growing appreciation of Bitcoin as a decentralized system, in light of the power that one man—President Trump—could have on the entire world.

The Twitter CEO said:

“The reason I have so much passion for #Bitcoin is largely because of the model it demonstrates: a foundational internet technology that is not controlled or influenced by any single individual or entity. This is what the internet wants to be, and over time, more of it will be.”

Celebrity Kim Kardashian West Posts a Crypto Related Paid Story on Instagram

Celebrity Kim Kardashian West and other famous key opinion leaders have recently joined the cryptocurrency carnival.

Over the past two years, cryptocurrencies affairs are getting more popular in the public’s daily life. Many celebrities and influential people have a stronger identity with endorsing cryptocurrency and blockchain projects. Among them, the most well-known billionaire is the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, who named himself “Dogefather”.

For influencers these include big names such as DJ Khaled and Paris Hilton. However, compared with influential capability, Kim Kardashian West’s post, as an influencer with 228 million followers on Instagram, is regarded as almost certainly the most prominent social media encryption promotion ever.

Kim Kardashian West posted an Ethereum-related network project-related story on her Instagram story with 228 million followers on Monday.

In the story she posted, Kim Kardashian West shared a cryptocurrency called “Ethereum Max token”. The post was not financial advice, but Kim Kardashian West labelled it with hashtag #AD beneath, indicating that this post was charged.

It is unknown how much she gets paid for her posting yet. But according to a court filing in 2019, she might earn between $300,000 and $500,000 by a single posting on her Instagram account.

Despite Kim Kardashian, a boxing legend Floyd Mayweather and Jack Paul of the National Basketball Association also recently endorsed Ethereum Max.

What is the Ethereum Max token?

Ethereummax (Emax) is treated as an altcoin. Emax is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain. A small part of the transaction can be redistributed to its token holders. It was launched in May with a 2 trillion supply in total.

According to its official website, users can use the Coinbase exchange app to buy Ethereum max tokens.

At present, No relevant information related to the white paper of the altcoin and other information about the team behind the project has been disclosed on its homepage.