The next Google, Youtube, and Wikipedia Can Be Decentralized

We have already heard much talk about how blockchain solutions might become the next big thing. Not just one big thing but substitute all the big stuff we currently have. Next Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple — it all could be decentralized.

Will it happen in a close future?

Perhaps not.

It would be ignorant to dismiss the possibility because such solutions already exist. While big companies weren’t looking, startups created a bunch of decentralized platforms which all have the potential to solve the problems of big digital monopolies.

In fact, Wikipedia already faced the challenge

A few days ago decentralized encyclopedia Everipedia went live, therefore creating direct competition for Wikipedia. So while Wiki’s CEO has “zero interest in ICOs,” the startup chooses the opposite strategy and launched IQ tokens to reward users for contributing to the library of articles.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/

With decentralized tokenization in place, Everipedia hopes to be entirely independent of advertising or any donations. Could be that ICO will allow Everipedia to solve the financial issues and concentrate merely on the development of the platform.

Why does it matter?

For one thing, this time the competition gets read. Let’s remind again that the startup managed to get Wikipedia’s co-founder Larry Sanger on board as the Chief Information Officer. Things are getting serious.

Also, this might be just the beginning. Who knows which “the next big thing” will go live tomorrow? Even though the startups most likely won’t catch up with corporations in the close future, the situation can change in 10–15 years. Maybe earlier.

It’s not just Wikipedia

The most curious part about all this is that Wikipedia is not alone in this struggle. Whatever field you choose, there is a direct blockchain competition who is opposing the current niche leader. Let’s go through the main solutions and see what changes they might bring.

Decentralized social media

The recent privacy scandals with Facebook just reminded users once again that traditional social networks are not the best place for leisure. On the wave of the privacy tension, decentralized social media appeared. Some of them even started getting traction.

Truth be told, the idea of decentralized communication is met skeptically. In the Wired article, explaining while decentralized social media will never work, the main argument against social media is:

The reality is that most people do not want to run their own web servers or social network nodes. They want to engage with the web through friendlier platforms, and these platforms will be constrained by the same forces that drive consolidation today.

It’s true, people are not used to decentralized digital networking yet. However, startups like Sapien still get their users, and in the future, the situation might very well improve.

Even if we don’t use blockchain social network in five years, we might do that in ten. Let’s not dismiss the possibility.

Messaging

Telegram’s success in Eastern Europe proves that WhatsApp is not safe. So far, Telegram is one of the most efficient implementations of decentralization for communication and it’s surely working.

These are just a few numbers that prove the magnitude of Telegram’s impact:

You see what is happening? In its second year, Telegram has already topped the numbers WhatsApp showed on its second year. This is both a great case of successful decentralization and the proof that users will eventually use blockchain solutions if they are really great.

Decentralized search

The talk of how blockchain is a direct competition of the entire Google business model is not new.

Shortly about the digital world. Pre-decentralization. Source: http://bolbitcoin.blogspot.com/2017/07/bitclave-decentralized-search.html

However, instead of saying the abstract things like “Google is the opposite of decentralization”, let’s focus on the real picture here, not some future predictions.

It turns out, decentralized Google might already exist. Presearch, a promising decentralized search engine, has already raised $16 000 000 on its ICO presale and it looks like their goal of becoming a full-motion competitive alternative to Google might be reasonable.

Will such search have potential? Yes. Believe it or not but people do care about their privacy. The level of Google’s presence in users lives is becoming exhausting and fewer people are willing to put up with it.

When could it happen? Not now, and perhaps not even in five years. In ten years though it might just become a reality.

Decentralized Youtube

Wait, who needs a decentralized Youtube? Many people do, and here is why. As a company, acquired by Google, Youtube shares many faults of its “big brother” and some of its own on top of that.

You can clearly see that creators are already not satisfied with the platform. Many of them would love the possibility to get out to the other platforms if only there would be where to go. Users, on the other hand, don’t click on Youtube advertising so well and are mostly annoyed by it.

Decentralized Youtube-like solutions, such as DTube, solve this problem by promising crucial advantages:

• No centralized censorship. All the content will be sorted by users. It’s them who will decide what belongs on the platform and what doesn’t, with the feedback, evaluations, and reactions.
• Fair and square to everyone. Decentralized platforms would have to look for new monetization solutions but they promise to do it transparently. Everyone will have the access to precise monetization calculation, laid out in the open.
• Ad free. Users don’t like having their musical or visual experience interrupted by annoying advertisements. Creators can advertise products in their videos, taking their own responsibility for the reaction of subscribers. No direct advertising.

So far, sounds great. The best part is, the solutions are already out there. Who knows, maybe one of them can in truth become the next Youtube?

Decentralized marketing automation

The popular solutions like Marketo, HubSpot, or well-known MailChimp surely have significant advantages, but they all share one issue. This issue is (of course) centralization.

When business owners opt to use the automation software, they also agree to give access to all the sensitive data, needed for the campaign, to the third party.

A few years ago, this was not an issue. Now, however, with GDPR in place, companies started analyzing way more carefully where and how they store data. Many of them are not ready to pass their customers’ information over to the Big Brother just by agreeing to some Privacy Policy.

Decentralization is just in time to solve this problem. In fact, that’s exactly what we are doing in Triggmine — a decentralized marketing automation platform that stores all the data on clients’ servers, without passing it over to the third party. Adding Artificial Intelligence to the mix, we create a smart marketing automation instrument that delivers strategic insights, set campaigns, and measures the results.

Trust issues

We already mentioned that a decent offering has a great informational support and a decentralized company of any kind has to put a great emphasis on maintaining its reputation. Take a look at what we at Triggmine use to prove our legitimacy with the 4XStake business model:

• The possibility of purchasing 4XStake (300 000 TRG) 4 times lower than the nominal value
• Demand for TRG Stake is guaranteed by the expansion of the platform and a limited quantity
• 40 potential partners (in the stage of signing the NDA and contracts) and own working product
• Transparency of the purchase/sale of TRG Stake and 4XStake is secured by smart contracts.

Decentralized services presuppose high level of trust, that is why it is crucial to provide more than just a nice picture, but comprehensive and transparent business approach.

Conclusions

The new Internet, like the one that Richard Hendricks was building in HBO’s Silicon Valley, might be almost there.

Will it make the corporations obsolete? Perhaps not, not now anyway. But what about in 7, 10, 15 years? Everything is possible.

P.S. Follow our blog to get more insights into the decentralized innovations and blockchain trends like this one.