The visualization of the ideal Internet Ecosystem

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I remember when Steemit was new to me - a whole new world; It wasn't even a year a go, but (as many would agree) it now feels like a lifetime had passed since. I remember it being thoroughly explained to me, and the analogies that I had to form in my head to make it stick... 'upvotes' are similar to 'likes', 'resteem' meant 'share'... even broader crypto terms like mining, the blockchain, fork, etc. evoked images of circles, squares and arrows coming together to form some sort of diagram of a functioning entity... However, over time, my understanding had gotten more nuanced, and previously unfamiliar terminologies had now became my everyday vocabulary, stripping the need for analogies and charts. Of course 'upvotes' and 'resteem' are not the same as 'likes' and 'share', everything is now stored in separate jars, labeled and organized atop a nuanced shelf - where I can easily find it. What once fascinated me as a new phenomena is now my daily routine. And yet today, I found myself thinking of new analogies, with circles and arrows, one again.

It often takes someone who is totally green to the idea of Steemit to shed a new light on this world that so many of us take for granted by now - Like a child that utters such a profound observation that you stand in awe at how clearly they perceive the world. Such was my reaction yesterday, when I sat for lunch with an old friend of mine, who I know since my first day in college, and who is now an entrepreneur, and also recently a dad, when @Meno and I told him about Steemit, as we understand it today...

"Yeah, I totally see it"  he said... "it's like you take the 'Social' aspect of the internet and combine it with 'Content Creation' and 'Monitization' and it organically leads to a much better internet ecosystem, that attracts intellectuals and future thinkers."

Gears spinning, circles are forming... That sentence made me see something that I clearly knew before, but had no visual analogy or a chart to illustrate it. So I immediately grabbed a sheet of paper and a crayon (that restaurants carry for kids) and drew a few circles and labels. This was my initial impression of what my friend said:

Social - Content - Money (monetization)

I left our get-together thinking about how this visual can represent Steemit, or more correctly, the Content Platforms built on top of the STEEM Blockchain (that also include sister sites like Dtube, Busy, steepshot, etc), and where do other social media, content and monetization platforms fall...

Take Facebook for example, it scores high on socializing - providing users with a kind of connectivity that they want. Content-wise I'd say Facebook is centered around the user's vanity and rants or the sharing of content sourced from elsewhere. Monetization-wise, Facebook's score is "Sameh" - the letter "S" in Hebrew - ס .

Or take Youtube, for instance. It scores high on Content and Monetization, but has a very poor standard for social interaction among its users. In fact it is know as one of the most toxic platforms for social interaction. Same goes for Twitter on the social arena, not to mention that it scores same as Facebook on Monetization.

I made some Vann Diagrams to illustrate what I mean:

_{The lighter circles represent the weaker aspects of each platform}

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Clearly, when it comes to STEEM based Platforms, all three spheres are present and converge. If you look at the areas where the circles intercept, we can get even more insight:

• Where Monetization meets Content - you have an incentive for better content.
• Where Content meets Social - you get an information sharing community.
• Where Social meets Monetization - you get an incentive for a more respectful and intellectual interaction.

When all three spheres converge, you get an environment that is hospitable to intellectual discussion, investors and creative minds. Does that mean, that all other platforms have to do is work on the sphere they are missing? Sounds too simple... In fact it seemed so simple that I thought that it was missing something... and that's when I went back to my 'nuance shelf' and pulled a huge cookie jar:

Decentralization.

Yes, there is another sphere that I have not taken into consideration.
Who is incharge? and how much control do they have over the other spheres? Think about the implications of 'Control' when it comes to Content, Social and Monetization, that is riddled with biases and algorithms that judge users by the key words they use (without understanding the context or intent). There goes every single social media and content platform out there - they have the power to sensor the content you wish to see, to suspend the profits you deserve to make, and monitor, restrict and even terminate your interaction with other users.

Decentralization adds a whole new dimension when layered over Content, Social and Monetization. In fact, it is the main factor that puts platforms like Steemit on a whole other level when compared to other social networks and content platforms - it facilitates the freedom and transparency that makes it impossible for other platforms to run while maintaining their policy of control. On top of that, adding decentralization to the schema produces terms like Cryptocurrency, Freedom, User Control and Merit Based Economy, all leading to the core of this schema - The Ideal Internet Ecosystem, that attracts free thinking and intellectual growth, community oriented investors and creative entrepreneurs.

Of course you know all this, and of course you know that there are no systems without flaws - such is the nature of complexity. With each dimension added, more opportunities and problems arise - just as overlaying colored circles can either make them appear muddier or brighter, and it depends entirely upon your perception. This visual is simply a manifestation of my own ideas and ideals (and it might not even be the first), but I hope it will give you a food for thought or a lasting visual analogy of what makes this platform stand apart from all the rest.

Thank you all for reading.

To my friend who inspired this post:
Chacho, you have the most uncluttered mind of anyone I know.
Stay fascinated by everything!
love,
-A N K A

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^^ http://steemit.com/@helpie ^^

^^ http://steemit.com/@knot ^^