If Some Guys Are Selling Bad Doughnuts, Should We Ban Flour? A Few Thoughts On Facebook Crypto Ban, Stupidity And Mars Colonization
The news about Facebook banning crypto ads may be one of the causes market is so down today (together with the subpoena of Bitfinex, that is).
But as I got up this morning, I realized there's much more to the FB news than to any other one.
Here's why.
1. Facebook has more than 1 billion users worldwide
This is by far the largest media company in the world. It is, if you want, the media company of the world. Whatever Facebook does impacts our society at a very deep level. And this happens not only when Facebook intently distributes (or allows the distribution of) some content, but especially when Facebook ignore something. Because, for so many people, Facebook took the place of the TV.
I remember the times when my parents were telling me, as a kid: "it's on TV, it must be true". Something similar is happening now with Facebook: "I saw it on Facebook, it must be true".
The amount of trust people have parked into this new centralized giant is simply unbelievable. Its ability to influence public opinion is almost grotesque: from Arab spring protests, up to the Russia meddling with the US elections, Facebook is literally allowing access to power to selected social structures.
I don't know the algorithm for this access to power, though. To be honest, I don't even think there is an algorithm, it's simply something that's happening and, in many instances, Facebook is just a passive vehicle hijacked by opinion leaders.
And this is frightening.
2. People are faking cash all the time, should we ban cash?
I remember a story about Argentina fake cash situation, in early 2000s. I don't know if this is solved now, but back then it was a very serious problem. People were faking cash to such extent that almost 20% of the circulating supply was thought to be counterfeit. There was even a master fake guy, I don't remember his name, who was behind this entire operation, but he was free (a loophole of some sort) and even revered and appreciated by some people - there was an interview with him on Travel Channel.
So just because there are some bad guys faking cash, should we ban cash? Oh, wait a minute, cash is issued by government, so it must be valid, right? Why? Because we trust government. Hmm, do you start to see a pattern here?
Facebook is trusted to hold "true" content, governments are trusted to create "valid" money...
3. There is a trust crisis, and it is caused by technological advance
For the first time in the history of mankind, social structures are sharply defined by the access and use of technology. I'm not talking abut wealth distribution here or about lifestyle. I'm talking about new organizational structures. Like communists versus capitalists. Only this time the gap is not based on ideological reasons, but on access to technology.
People who only have access to TV are less informed (and, obviously, more prone to be deceived) than people who have access to social media, and these, in turn, are way less informed than people who have access to decentralized, self-governing structures (being it about information, like Steemit, or about money, like any other crypto out there).
People reactions and affinities are dictated now by how well their understanding - and usage - of technology is aligned. And there is this tendency of everything that's obsolete to preserve its status quo. It happened with "traditional" media during the dot com boom, and it's happening now, with social media during the crypto boom.
Stupidity should be treated with compassion, not hate
If you are fortunate enough to be part of a decentralized structure (and, really, even a collaborative open source project on Github is more or less a decentralized structure) then you're probably baffled by the enormities you see on other media channels. Many times, this can't be labelled otherwise than "plain stupidity". A wave of uninterrupted, self-feeding, irresponsible stupidity.
The gut reaction is to punish it hard. To make it stop somehow. Well, I don't think it's working. Especially during the initial stages of a technological advance, when the number of early adopters is an order of magnitude lower than the number of the "old guardians of the truth". We're just a few, compared with them.
But as their structures are growing heavier and heavier, their demise will come from within. These old, obsolete structures will die by implosion. Those people who are riding now the wave of censorship are going to end up in a very rigid and sad universe. Devoid by any trace of that mighty truth they claim to preserve.
Hence, compassion is need in interacting with them, not anger. They are already dying.
Ok, So what's with the Mars colonization thing?
In a sense, I feel that this gap between the "old" and the "new", between the technological obsolete societies, and technological fit social structures is growing bigger by the day. To such an extent that space will be insufficient at some point.
It happened all the time in history, only it was driven, like I said, by ideological mantras: we will impose our socialism, our capitalism or our fascism by force, because we need your space and your resources.
And here's where that Mars thing comes into place.' As strange and as sci-fi this sounds right now, the process of colonization an empty planet could solve the above space and resources problem. There is a real chance to avoid killing each other again here, on Earth, if we "all" aim to colonize something new.
The bad news is that, once Mars will start to function, this place that we call "home" right now, the planet Earth, may become inhabitable. But not so much because climate change, but because the old, the obsolete and the inflexible will continue to ban everything.
To the extent that they will, eventually, ban their very own life.
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
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I know the feeling. That's why I created steem.supply, an easy to use and accurate tool for calculating your Steemit rewards |
The reason for the ban is not in the risks of users, but in the risks of the Faсebook itself to the technology of blockchain.
User risks are just an excuse.
By banning crypto ads he is automatically banning Steem ads. It's obious he doesn't want Facebook users to learn about Steem, Steemit etc.
Facebook aka spybook is a outdated system and it is centralized. Facebook considers our profiles to be their property and they sell our data to advertisers, governments etc. They say it's free but we really pay them. Enough is enough!
It's time to Steem CHOO CHOO🚂
Yes! but now it will take longer :)
Stated otherwise, if it's free you are the product.
I think banning Steemit ads on Facebook is just protectionism, plain and simple. Using the word 'crypto' tries to make it seem like they are doing their users a favour by protecting them from the nasty world of freedom and choice.
This is actually a good sign for Steemit.
Once they start banning you, you know you are a threat. And if a giant like Facebook sees Steemit as a threat, then we know we're in the right camp. because if we are a threat today, just think what we will be tomorrow!
How ironic is it that a technology company that tries to come across as progressive will ban the ads for use of another more progressive tech! You are right in the end they will end up stifling their own growth and may be that's how they will fall!
Interesting thinking indeed. I personally never trusted FB and don't even have an account - to me it is like a heap of all kinds of shiny and colorful advertising material that I get into my mailbox and just throw away without looking at its contents.
Yes, FB is a social media "parent" and sadly many "children" think that their parent is always right.
Steemit on the other hand is in my opinion for grown up children that are smart and brave enough to use their own judgement and decide for themselves.
This is how any interference, regulation or ban begins. There are either bad actors, or the appearance, potential or fear of them, so someone—big government, big media, big business, big somebody—has to rush in and save the people from themselves.
If there is an inevitability to the change coming, than these large, old institutions will fight it, ban it, buy it, blame it, condemn it, but never try to compete against it because they know they can't. And as they collapse from within they will try to take as much of the new infrastructure with them as they go, leaving just enough distrust and doubt in the minds of the people that these purveyors of lies and half truths can worm their way back into the new and evolving system.
As long as Steem stays decentralized as it grows, it just might overcome this cycle of first being the disruptor, then the solution, and then the corruptor. I hope so. The world needs a shake up of biblical proportions, and unfortunately, that usually means tragedy and death. If we can skip the tragedy and death part and just go straight to the major change, I'm all for it.
I think Facebook knows it has a competitor within the Steemit community so of course, Facebook is going to ban cryptocurrency ads.
The more people are made aware of the value of decentralized social media networks, the more people can become free from government interference. That's why I spend my time promoting Steemit over on Facebook and helping others get started with cryptocurrencies.
Nice reasonning... to be on FKbook... :))
Somehow I feel ur just a FBK person reasoning withurself....... just my empty thoughts...
Not really, as I said I spend most of my time promoting Steemit on that platform. No need to troll me fella, I've been on this site for a while!
Of course they gonna ban crypto, many of those questionable adds are moving users from Facebook to platforms like Steemit. They started to fight back.
Did somebody noticed that this is happening some days after the publication of the fact that Winklevoss twins become the first Bitcoin billionaires?!!!
Maybe Zuckerberg is still angry with the twins hahahahahahahah
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/president-trumps-state-of-the-union-in-three-minutes/
It is just the old thinking of "saving my audience from being scammed". This is a clear reason we need more decentralised projects as steem and cryptocurrencies. Why not directly ban Facebook?, time will tell
Zucker will make his own crypto... oh wait, Zucker bans all cryptos! HE will steal your identity and value of your creations, BUT no one else will !! He's a stand-up guy !