Let me begin by admitting that I am relatively new to Minds, and this is my first blog on here. So far, I have been quite impressed with what I have seen. I have engaged with many open minded, thoughtful individuals, and I think the Minds team has done a very nice job integrating the blockchain in a way that allows for scaling and monetization.
And they are doing it just in the nick of time.
The free and open Internet is under attack. The distribution of information online is controlled by just a handful of proprietary corporations (Facebook, Google, Apple, Twitter, and few others). These companies are built on foundations of greed and secrecy, and their true colors are finally beginning to show. What has happened in the past few weeks with Facebook is really just a result of a flawed business model that exploits user data without consent
Minds defeats this in the very first step of the process - with anonymity. I was not required to give any information to register, and because of this, none of you have any idea who I am :).
So even if my information is public, or shared with third parties, they will not know who I really am, since there is no way to identify me based on my @name. This is a foundational difference between Minds and Facebook, and it is one that protects user privacy and freedom.
Before the crypto integration, Minds was already on the correct path. Transparency, open source software, rewards, organic reach....the list goes on and on. The blockchain integration is pure harmony, as the technology could not be more aligned with Minds core principles.
Cryptocurrency allows Minds to decentralize their monetary system. This means that we, the users, own and control all of our financial relationships on Minds. And with the optional anonymity, we control our private data, too.
The network is designed to create a peer-to-peer, contribution driven economy with no middle man. Since the Minds technology is open-source, I would not be surprised to see a lot of energy go towards building applications around the Minds source code soon, especially now with crypto being part of the story.
The only way that we can retake control of the Internet is to break up the centralized power. And the only way we can do that is to choose to spend our time on networks that actually care about us. Stop getting exploited, and take back control of your digital world.
Kudos to Minds for building something for the people.
-CW