Social media has become a fast expanding bubbling hub where everyone is welcome. By 2019 an estimated 2.77 billion people will be using social media platforms according to Statistia.
These interconnected network of people will be projecting their voice, ingenuity, and individuality across borders where they can access vast medium of intellectual wealth, quality time around what they enjoy or a viral pedestal to celebrity status. Regardless of personal reasons for engaging, what we will be leaving behind is a rich deposits of human history on the Internet, however like all deposits, isn't time we start asking how prone is deposits to erosion?
Earlier this year, 12 million nondescript folks woke up to their daily ritual on YouTube and found their walled garden eroded. Machinima , one of YouTube oldest and biggest channel, had suddenly switched all its videos to private. With one swipe, creators found themselves unable to access their creation. With one swipe thirteen years of technical and intellectual content seize to exist. Unlike text and picture content, video content are too large to be caché by search engines and uploading them to public domain archive can be quite a hassle.
YouTube and other streaming platforms have not only make it easier for users to only upload video content but also make a living from it. Machinima carterd to the biggest entertainment industry, gaming. Enabling creators to create targeted content, interact with like minded individuals and be remunerated for their efforts. With one swipe Machinima killed all that.
Machinima is classic example of what can go wrong with a walled garden, where there is one centralised authority whose whims and bias dictate the entire existence of this garden. Now if Machinima history is lost or only accessible to a single entity, then the foundation of the Internet is at risk.
Securing our history
Privacy is a right not a privilege. Everybody has a right to choose what they can and can't make publicly accessible, however no single entity should impose its whims on the community especially when its involves the freedom of expression and livelihood.
What we need is a platform where we are put in control of our personal data. A censorship resistance platform where everybody is treated fairly and equally. A platform that embodies the true essence of how the Internet be. A platform like Quantum1net