Crypto Academy Week 3 Homework Post for [@yohan2on] Steemit Compare and Contrast between a Centralized and a Decentralized application under any category.

1. Facebook is controlled by one man and his top officials. Mark Zukerberg is the number one decision-maker on Facebook. He can change anything at any time without informing any gadamn user. He decides everything that happens on the platform, and no one has the power to challenge his authority because the system is operated on a centralized basis. The steemit platform is held by witnesses and the entire steemit members. There are several nodes that must run for the steem blockchain to survive, so every interested steemians are given the opportunity to serve as a steemit witness

These witnesses run the nodes that help the platform to keep working as expected. Though there are the first 20 witnesses that are seen as the main guys controlling the server, they were all voted by steemians. No nomination would work in this kind of system. Justin Sun (The owner of Steemit) doesn't run the affair. The witnesses and the community come together to support and make things work the way they should. Another power of a decentralized platform

2. The first thing I will mention is the blogging aspect. Contents can be created on Facebook, and also videos and pictures can be uploaded too. On steemit, the blogging part is done better, because the platform's aim is blogging. The blogging rate on steemit when it comes to quality cannot be compared to Facebook blogging. Though there are some wonderful blogs on FB, Steemit has it all

3. Making money. People claimed that money can be made on Facebook. When I did my research, I found out that it is only through marketing content, goods, and services, which isn't bad. However, the Facebook bot flags many contents on daily basis without asking questions, posting comments, and seeking the consent of the publisher. That is the power of a centralized app/system. But Steemit made a difference here because of its decentralized system. Every steemian has the power to tip other contributors by voting on their contents. Each upvote is like giving someone cash. It is real money if converted from steem or SBD to fiat. Note: Steem, SBD and Tron are the cryptocurrencies used to tip content creators on the steem blockchain for their good work. Such is not applicable on Facebook

Throughout my entire life on Facebook, I've not gotten a dime, but on Steemit, it's a good story. All thanks to the decentralized system that gave the community the power to tip other content contributors. The Facebook like is not bad either, at least, it's a way to keep things alive. But one is better than the other

4. Steemit is transparent because it is an open-source project, while Facebook is not. One thing that every individual doesn't joke about is trust. Even in a relationship, trust is the basis and the foundation of a good union. The transparent nature of the steem blockchain makes it outstanding. All the codes can be gotten from Github. Here are the codes https://github.com/steemit/steem. It's open for anyone to fork and use. Projects like hive, blurt, and so on forked the steemit code and created their own platform

There are no hidden or malicious codes because it's very transparent. In the case of Facebook, no one can see the codes. It's hidden. If there is a kind of manipulation, users can not know. The centralized system didn't give people the opportunity to interact with the codes, so it can be changed and manipulated anytime without informing any user of the platform

Unlike steemit where hard fork is announced and deliberate on before it's executed. Also, MarkZukerberg can decide to shut down the entire Facebook platform within a twinkle of an eye if he's fed up with the system or decide to crash the application. The CEO of steemit (Justin Sun) cannot decide that because there are lots of witnesses managing every node that is powering the steemit blockchain. It can only be done if there is a consensus. And that is the power of a decentralized platform

5. Steemit can flag and sanction contents that are not original. This makes it a little bit difficult for just anyone to join the platform. But Facebook doesn't care about plagiarism. Anyone can repost any users' post without any reference. This makes Facebook gain millions of users while Steemit is still counting thousands. Nevertheless, original content creators have made the steem blockchain gain respect among its peers, and Facebook also made wave with the number of users on their platform

6. Transactions and activities on steemit are limited if users don't have a reasonable amount of steem power, which sometimes limits the activeness of a new user. In the case of Facebook, it's not so. There is no limit to the number of likes and post a user can achieve per day. The steem blockchain operates in a way to curb farming because of malicious accounts that would be created to game the system. Multiple Facebook accounts would have a minimal effect compared to that of steem, so the introduction of resource credit needed to carry out activities on the steem blockchain is a fair way to regulate the system and make things difficult for people who are involved in vote farming

Centralized apps and decentralized apps both have their strengths and limitations. As a matter of fact, decentralized system is still very much at its infancy compared to the centralized system many people are used to since the inception of the universe. The centralized system is still much more at the front because of the ground they've gained, but if the decentralized system can within the short period of its invention rock the world and shake the government, It will in few years take over. I think I'm sure of that to a reasonable extent. Blockchain technology is immutable, and every decentralized platform built on it has the potential of ruling the world as time goes by because everyone would love to experience freedom in whatever they do

I want to use this opportunity to appreciate the prof @yohan2on for this scintilating topic. I'm always keen to participate in his homework. More power to your elbow prof