I've spent the days thinking about what I would consider to be the optimal social media platform. For this purpose I would like to use this post and record some of my thoughts and share them with us. Before I go into what kind of platform I would like to have, I would like to go into some other aspects.
These include the questions why I use social platforms and applications and also what bothers me about the current situation.
What do you use social media for?
Obviously the purpose is probably to connect with other people on a digital basis. This is also the most important part from my perspective. However, I also use social media to gather information in various hobby areas, such as gaming or even crypto currencies or for entertainment.
I have been anything but an active user of social media for the last years. I haven't used Facebook for years, I only created a Twitter account to have one and I have never used Instagram in my life.
Regularly I only use Reddit, Youtube and Discord. Less regularly I also use Twitch to watch interesting ESport tournaments and Pinterest for creative input. Newly added is Hive, where I got here solely because of my interest in crypto currencies. To be honest, I don't see much alternative in the current "offer" of Hive regarding the other mentioned aspects. The platform and community are probably still too small or niche oriented for this.
What bothers me about social media?
My biggest disruptive factor is clear: I detest the use of so many different platforms. In my eyes, it is suboptimal for every need to have to go to a different platform. This may be normal for many people, but for me it is annoying and time-consuming when it comes to keeping things together. Here I still work with bookmarks in the browser, which in my opinion is no longer up to date. A better solution I could not discover today but unfortunately not yet for me. Besides this fact, I am also bothered by the fact that discovering new content on individual platforms is made difficult for me. Either I discover systems that let me end up in a filter bubble in the long run or systems that can't present any interesting new content at all. I rarely find the middle (probably the closest to the optimum). I will give a concrete example:
I don't know why, but with the release of Fortnite I rediscovered an old gaming love, which was in standby for a long time due to studies and other activities. But Fortnite had grabbed me like no other game many years before. I was so interested in the game and the game mechanics that I regularly watched major tournaments and cups (or the summary of the highlights) on Youtube. It's interesting that I really only watched these tournaments, mostly provided by a single channel. After a while then my whole feed was full of Fortnite and other similar formats. All other personal preferences disappeared step by step from my feed until it became completely useless. This led me to open a new Google account, which I had to teach again what I wanted to do. Sounds stupid? Maybe, but it could be easier?
One platform for all needs?
The best possible solution from my perspective would be a platform for all needs. A platform where I:
- read and write articles (medium)
- can send and write short tweets (Twitter)
- "Private" chat can (Messenger Name it)
- can post pictures (Instagram)
- can watch and upload videos (Youtube)
- can host and watch live streams (Twitch)
- can compile creative impressions (Pinterest)
- find communities and exchange information in "special forums" (Reddit)
In the best case, a possibility would also be integrated that would allow the use of voice servers. But this seems to me to be difficult to integrate, so I would exclude this (Discord).
Maybe this thought is useless in practice. But to me as a layman within social media this really seems to be the most convenient solution. Probably I will probably spend the days to find out how to unite these things in the sense of a single front-end.
I would be interested - how do you see this aspect?
Is this idea of an all-in-1 platform feasible or is it just a pipe dream? Where do you see the advantages, where do you see disadvantages?
Couldn't Hive provide that?
Currently I am still reading in, but isn't Hive or the Blockchain a basis on which this goal can be realized? I see that at least some approaches already exist or have existed. At least I have already seen some front-ends that illustrate individual aspects like:
- D-Tube & 3-Speak to Youtube
- Hive itself to medium
- PeakD (through better representation of communities and topics) to Reddit
Why does it seem desirable here to create single small platforms instead of one large one or plugins used within a "base platform"?
From my perspective this would be another plus point:
Let's face it, very few people come across this platform because they see advantages in terms of the social media nature. Some come out of curiosity because they are in the cryptospace, some come because they learn about the possibility to make money and some are friends of the other two.
Recently, there may be a small percentage of those who have been excluded from traditional social platforms and therefore (from the background of their experience) have chosen a censorship-free platform.
Wouldn't the fact that a single platform covers all social needs in the digital domain be an additional advantage? A unique selling proposition that also appeals to users who are not familiar with cryptography, as they may have exactly this need?
What do you think about this consideration? Do you also see potential, or do you think this theoretical approach would be useless in theory?
Share your thoughts with me, I am happy!
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See you,
st8z