Netocracy - The Book That Predicted The Rise Of The Blogger And The New Elite

in netocracy •  8 years ago 

A couple of years ago, I was advised to read a book called Netocracy - The New Power Elite and Life After Capitalism. The reason for the advice was because; ...it will give you a sense of what is going on in the world and your place in it.

The book is an incredible read, and is made all the more amazing because it was originally written in the year 2000. A time when Amazon stocks were being used as toilet paper; and the idea of internet broadband, was the stuff of a madman's dreams.

In the 2 short years since I read this book, I have seen more and more predictions come true; the world the authors; Alexander Bard and Jan Soderqvist portray, is beginning to reveal itself on a grand scale; almost everyday, something else comes true thatNetocracy predicted.

It can be reasonably argued, that the authors predicted, Myspace, Facebook and Twitter, along with the foretelling of the tax or rather non-tax implications of the new digital economy regarding companies like Google and Amazon. Netocracy also predicted the ability of the individual to trade across the globe, with no more restrictions than equipment and bandwidth.

The driving point of the book, is that we are moving, or rather, have already moved, from the Capitalist paradigm, to that of the Informationalist paradigm. The Netocracy argues that the virtual world will grow in importance, until the point that our online desires are the dominant forces shaping the world we live in.

There are two stages in a revolution, this isn't happening; this mustn't happen!

Bard & Soderqvist, paint a picture in which finance, in the shape of capital, has been replaced by attention as the global currency. In this future they tell us that not only will the attention of the people be what everyone is vying for, but in the world of the netocrat, identity and trust are commodities to be acquired, built upon and then carefully nurtured.

In that sense Netocracy didn't just predict Steemit, it gave us a glimpse into the future we now live in, a time where an individual is no longer restricted by neither, cultural, geographical, or geopolitical borders. The internet along with its filigreed networks, integrated payment systems, and vast information silos, has rendered the Free Market, truly free.

The Dawn Of The Netocrat

netocrat
n. The netocrat has created and not inherited his social identity. He/she is self-made in the most fundamental meaning of the word. The netocrat has money but it is a means and not an end goal. He/she outsmarts the capitalist by ruling the networks that now rule the world. The netocrat is an artistic and political manipulator who has turned networking into an art form.

Those who can harness global networks of information and master new forms of communication will inherit the power. They are the Netocrats.
--Netocracy

Our social sphere is evolving, the ever increasing reliance of online communication means that the importance of trust in the individual, is growing exponentially alongside our needs. As the words above imply; you do not inherit your social identity in the same way you do in the real world.

Offline your social identity may be influenced by your accent, skin colour, place of birth, the neighbourhood you live in, amount of money you and/or your parents have, alongside a whole host of other variables. On the internet, whether you're on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook or Steemit, you start from scratch.

This a very important point and one that Bard & Soderqvist give no small amount of page space to. The Netocracy places a high premium on identity and reputation; at first this may seem at odds, with our pseudo-anonymous world of cryptocurrency and the internet at large. It is easy for you to signup to a multitude of different social platforms and create an identity out of thin air. Most of us have built dozens of identities for various sites and portals.

With each new platform, whether it be gaming, educational or social, we create identities, and in the most part, we treat those identities as throw away items, barely giving thought to what we've created. The reputation you garner when you step into your new online identity, is in most cases, an arbitrary, intangible asset, if it is positive, it has as much or as little, value as a negative reputation.

Facebook is unique in the social spectrum, in that the identity you create on their platform, is at the very least a window to your offline persona. Of course you could make up a name and set up a Facebook profile that was nothing like you in the real world, however you will still take care of that identity, like you never could for JazzzyBear999 or LollyLucyPops6821.

So in that regard, a Facebook identity, although closer to your own identity, is not the same as a Steemit one. The profile you create on Steemit, and the reputation you build up on the site, is much more akin to the identity and reputation Bard & Soderqvist talked about in the Netocracy.

Meaning you will carry your Steemit identity with you for a long time, yet to come, with it, you will bring a reputation, one not inherited; rather moulded by your actions.

This is what is meant by an identity in the new netocracy.

I Am Me

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...it is reputation, or capital of trust that is the network's most important asset; with the help of reputation, attention is attracted to the networks, and there is a great shortage of attention, rather than money on the net. Money will follow attention, and not vice versa. Attention is the only hard currency in the virtual world. The strategy and logic of the netocracy are therefore attentionalist rather than capitalist.
--Netocracy

Since time and memorial, trust and reputation have always been important in human societies all over the world. It is an unchanging constant, now and for the foreseeable future, people and organisations with high levels of trust and reputation, will do more business than their lower trusted counterparts.

In feudal times, the word of a Knight of the realm, or a gentlemen were sacrosanct, they meant more than the words spoken, they stood for a bond of trust that had been adhered to by them and their families for generations. Such a person would have taken advantage of the priveledged networks they had access to; such people always found it easy to acquire loans and finance for their ventures.

When we moved from feudalism into the Capitalist paradigm, corporations attempted to inherit the trust of the previous era the only way they could; through marketing slogans such as...

...a bank you can trust

In our new informationalist paradigm, the focus of trust and reputation is shifting onto the individual, so much so that in some cases reputations can be bought for a fee. An ebay seller with a 5 star reputation, will sell more than one with 2 stars, so it appears prudent to try and purchase a ready made rep.

Individuals who have been involved in selling online, have realised that reputation building is key to financial success. Often private vendors will take a loss on an irate, or even fraudulent customer, just to keep their reputation points high. For the rest of us, this new notion of having an identifiable online persona, that carries with it trust and reputation, is completely new.

What we do, and how we behave online will determine our place in netocratic society; where before the power elite had their gentleman's clubs and sorieties. The new elite have their social platforms and private chat rooms.

Steemit is one of the nodes for the new elite, just like ebay, Shoppify, and affiliate advertising, Steemit gives the indivdual the chance of success once reserved only for privileged and legislated corporations, and with that success, comes the chance to achieve what was beyond the realm of the average citizen just a couple of decades ago.

It is an important distinction in grouping Steemit with commercial websites, because like ebay, and others like it, your finances are intrinsically linked to your identity. Your ongoing presence in the Steemosphere (copyright Steemed), will hopefully lead to a growing Steem Power and Steem Dollar balance, and the last thing you want to do, is to throw it away by ruining your reputation.

The netocrat realises the value and power in reputation, and therefore does everything in their power to protect their good standing.

Attention Seeking In A Digital Universe

The dynamic that already exists both within and between the different networks is forcing an entirely new prioritization in the game for status and power: careful care of one's own trademark. The players simply cannot afford to be seen in any sleazy old context, because ten they would lose all credibility.
--Netocracy

Reputation leads to attention, and because of the dual nature of financial rewards on Steemit, it is not just the content producers that are seeking attention, it is the curators as well.

A Steemian's reputation for voting on good content early, and making intelligent, informed and or witty comments, has the potential to be just as valuable as a reputation built on providing quality content. In fact the level of competition for attention among the Steemit Witnesses, and those that have Witness aspirations, is suitably fierce.

Content producers at the moment are vying for the attention of the Whales, because their votes carry the biggest rewards. However to focus on that, is to miss the bigger picture, it is far better to gain the attention of 600 minnows, than it is of 10 Whales, regardless of financial reward.

The reason for this is because a reputation is built on the trust of the many, not the few, the financial power of the Whales will be mitigated, if not completely diluted over time. In years to come, for those who have built their reputations, the rewards will be abundant.

We have already seen this on a microscale, when Steemians like @fyrstikken, @dollarvigilante and perhaps to a lesser extent @falkvinge, have benefited from their previously impressive online reputations.

As @dan said in his article; Steemit's Evil Plan for Cryptocurrency World Domination, Steemit.com is just the beginning, the Steem blockchain is now there for anyone to use. In the future, both near and far, amazing innovation will be added to the Steemosphere via new sidechains.

Steemit's place in the new netocracy is set, it is an information portal, social media platform and payment system all in one and with it comes a new stable currency, which at once offers a financial system and a reputation accounting ledger.

A Steemit account provides an online identifier, that links the account unarguably to the user and therefore carries a reputation with it; can you imagine who will be best placed to take advantage of new Steem sidechain innovations?

Imagine for a moment if you will; a Steem escrow service, whereby funds are held in trust whenever there is a deal happening between two or more Steemians. In this instance, only the most trusted users would be called upon to act as token holders.

Without looking into the future, we can already see that having a trusted Steemit account is an asset not to be taken lightly. With a good reputation you are more likely to get invited into the many hidden clubs that are formulating behind the scenes.

In netocratic society, enhanced reputations, will lead to enhanced opportunities.

Final Analysis - Lessons In Rep Building

So now it is down to us, everybody who joins Steemit, has been given a ticket to dine at the table of the netocrats. It would be wise not to take this for granted, as the ticket may not always be available to all. The Netocracy states that platforms such as Steemit, will raise their barriers to entry, eventually shutting out the masses, lest they corrupt it. So now is the time to make busy and build your reputation.

Your reputation that you are building here, can and will be taken with you elsewhere, you are the architect of your own destiny, in the short-term there may be scant reward. However persistence, and with careful diligence you can build any reputation you care to.

Look upon Steemit as a chance to start a reputation that you carry with you for years to come, building upon it, decide what you want to be known for, and more importantly, what you don't; then simply make it so.

We are the curators of our own reputations, good and bad deeds are marked against us, however unlike ebay's handy star system, we often are unaware of our standing. Instead we can gauge our position by the opportunities that we either attain or simply pass us by.

As a result of the ongoing paradigm shift and the transition from capitalism to informationalism, power is leaving the salons of the bourgeoisie and moving into the virtual world, where a new elite, the netocracy, is ready to take over.
--Netocracy

This is our virtual world, we are the citizens-in-waiting, now it is our time to shine, to take the place of the old guard. We are part of the informationalist revolution, we are the future...

...we are the netocrats; so onward the revolution!

HAVE YOU FOUND YOUR PLACE IN THE NEW NETOCRACY? IS YOUR REPUTATION MORE VALUABLE TO YOU THAN MONEY? LET ME KNOW BELOW!

Cryptogee

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While the media-based economy of social networks will certainly be important, nothing will take away the physical commerce, since even this network traffic requires cables and terminals and servers and whatnot.

Even here though, the blockchain and related decentralisation technologies will come into play. Factories and other places of capitalist production will operate using these kinds of systems and our productivity will be trackable down to the last little bit. In service industries, our provision of services will be rated by our customers, and... well, it is a very exciting prospect, because it will eliminate a lot of the functions of managers, who can be the rotten core of a business going wrong. As I discovered in my recently ended contract of employment in an IT service company.

So, even there, there will be a reputation system that can be put into place, where once an employer had to pay a salary because it was too tedious to track every bit of work, more and more every bit of work will be trackable. And even further, as I alluded to above, this will start to erode the functions of supervisors and managers. The company's board of directors will be a victim of the obsolescence caused by blockchain IoT smart contract type systems. Shareholders will have the ability to directly control the company instead of trusting intermediaries, and maybe finally the end of corrupt trustees running off with assets, or causing financial trouble for shareholders...

This is the direction the whole thing is going, it's the big vision behind Ethereum, even if it may not be the system that stands by the time that this starts to become mainstream. It is already happening to some degree, Steem and Dash and some other blockchain based systems also are starting to implement systems like that, indeed Steem is a work in progress for showing how it can work on very large data sets, meaning that shareholders decisions can be aggregated and dictate the order of business.

It makes me think of something that I have to write, and I think I am going to put everything on hold for a little while and put together a really nice article, in the next day or so.

I am glad someone suggested to me that I do more reading and commenting, now I have a big fat steeming egg of an idea in my mind-womb.

You hit upon many points made in the book, you're spot on about employment and the changing role of the employee. However virtual commerce is intrinsically linked to the physical, so much so that the physical will soon be seen as an adjunct to the virtual.

Cg

I haven't read that book but I know of the concept that in the digital information age, attention is the new currency that people are vying for. A good reputation can attract attention.

I've been building the reputation of this name/brand for the last 11+ years in public writings that anyone can find and check. I strive to be fair and have honest civil discussions with anyone even if I disagree with them. That's my brand and my reputation.

It's a great book, the first 100 pages or so are quite heavy going, as they draw a lot of parralels between the transition from feudalism to capitalism, and capitalism to informationalism. Also I needed a dictionary handy for some parts!

I'm sure you're reaping the benefits from your good rep, like I said, it is only something that has dawned on me in the last few years, you are brand You and I am brand Me, that is more precious than money alone.

Cg

Going to put it on my reading list. We are at the dawn of a new age. Bronze age and industrial revolution will pale in comparison in our lifetime. Would love to be 20 years younger

Hey, with medical science n surch, 20 years younger might be possible one day!

I was just going to say that! :-)

Cg

Thanks for the great article! I'm definitely going to pick up the book this week.

Asi sinceramente estaremos contribuyendo en pro de las cosas constructivas y perdurables en el tiempo.

So honestly we will be contributing towards constructive and enduring things in time .

I absolutely loved this book, as well as the two sequels that followed it. It's great to see that it's getting more attention.

What I love most about the emergence of cryptocurrencies and platforms like this is that it's never been more apparent how important networks are. Even if you were to ignore places like Steemit, you need a strong network to get into the correct ICOs, you need the correct network to get learn about the right trades, etc. Cryptocurrencies and the emergence of tokenomics have solidified Bard and Soderqvist's ideas about the strength of the networks by incentivizing correct network behavior economically. It's amazing to see it all play out!

It really is amazing; I wasn't aware of any sequels though! What are they called?

Cg

Thanks for this. Bookmarking. Cashtags: $b.books $b.recommended

"Life after capitalism"? It seems to me, that Steemit is bringing the capitalism to social media. :-)

No, Facebook did that, by monetising your metrics; every time you "like" something on Facebook, or use an emoji to express feeling towards a post. Or even search Google AFTER you logout of FB, your details are being collected, sorted, packaged and sold to the highest bidder, without you seeing one red cent.

That's bringing capitalism to social media :-)

Cg

What the book means about "life after capitalism," is not that capitalism will go away, it's that capitalism will be outperformed. As we are seeing with the successes of the internet famous, attention attracts capital. If you can court attention on a massive scale, you will subsequently get rich. Prior to capitalism, we had feudalism, and in the feudal economy, having more land meant having more wealth. When we transitioned to capitalism, having a lot of land came as a consequence of having a lot of money, but land's relationship to wealth still exists. Similarly, the importance of capital has not disappeared, but has been usurped by attention.

Cracking post, and inspiring vision! I hope you are right and will check out the book when/if I get time!

Capitalism and democracy have just about run their course, with corruption of both taking humanity close to the brink of destruction (not for the first time in its long history!). I'd love to see the dawn of a new meritocracy, and wouldn't it be great if Steem could help usher it in?

All the more reason for us to continue to provide unique original content. Also, all the more reason for continued tweaking of steem rep and reward mechanics to ensure that meretitious new voices are heard, and not discouraged by the difficulty of generating a readership as a new Steemer. Let's all work together to not simply recreate the existing capitalist paradigm on Steem!

You are right, however it's only been a couple of months, look at the long game, in 12 months time some of these undervalued writers today, could be Whales.

Keep producing, keep making intelligent points like this; and you will be noticed :-)

Cg

From my current economic position being a whale certainly has its appeal, but I'm not sure it's what I'd really want in the long term. On Steemit, with great reputation comes great responsibility!

Personally I'd rather see an ocean of meritorious dolphins, all making enough so that they don't have to worry too much about working for the man to make ends meet, so that they can continue to add their own content and each have enough power to bring great new material to light.

Don't get me wrong, I have massive respect for the current whale generation. Most are whales because they were actively involved (and continue to be involved) in the creation of this great platform. Others because they have added great content. I think Steem has the potential to be a serious game changer, and I wouldn’t want to see this evaporate because of a high attrition rate for new Steemers due to difficulty getting their initial material seen.

I've just posted on this idea, and what I believe is the astronomic potential future for the Steem platform. Please look it up if you’re interested! I haven’t put a link here as I know that’s pretty aggressive, but if you like it let me know as it would be great to pop a link here to give it a bit more exposure!

my self confidence soars way above money

Great ... no excellent post @cryptogee . One of the best posts that I have read on the platform. You make very true comments.

Thanks Jacor :-)

Cg

Fantastic post. I'm definitely curious about reading this book. I love futurism and trying to predict what might happen. It's like a great big puzzle with so many pieces, and you have to imagine how they might fit together... how they might affect each other, and how they might affect culture.

In a previous post hypothesising about how Steemit might be revolutionary, I mentioned the story from Duck Tales where Fenton Crackshell accidentally hypes up a product that doesn't exist, and Scrooge McDuck is ecstatic, because he knows that the hype - the attention - is valuable, and having so much attention on their non-existent product means they are sure to make money. Now, with Steemit, we can see how true that really is.

@cryptogee probably the Best and Most well written article I have read on STEEMIT yet. Great post! UP VOTE & a FOLLOW
full $teem ahead!
@streetstyle
ps. time for a NON Famous Well Known Crypto Guru Anarchist Evangelist to get paid !! And he is going to Get paid, trust me!! this is only half way there!!

This is the post and discussion stemmit and steemians should be proud of.

Thank you for this wonderful, inspiring post @cryptogee. Very easy to understand and it made me smile :)

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

@cryptogee

I have read the book. It did not predict anything. It made educated guesses about an infrastructure that was already there. No need to hype it for the sake of hyping it.

In the same way, If I see someone walking towards the postoffice I can make a prediction that he will either receive or send something by mail.

Here is actually a book that predicted most of the things mentioned in your book plus much more

Well then you didn't understand it, the book clearly predicts the fall of the modern tax structure regarding large online corporations. Something that was not even being considered in the year 2000.

The book also predicts the rise of the individual who is able to manipulate the networks to the benefit of him and others.

I would go on, but I'm finding typing whilst looking at your gif even more annoying than your reply.

Cg

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

@cryptogee

I haven't seen any tax structure "falling". You might need to check how authors use generic language in order to appear like they know the future. Nostradamus was a master in such vague generalisations.

The book also predicts the rise of the individual who is able to manipulate the networks to the benefit of him and others.

Humans have always been doing that whether we talk about trade networks or online ones. Nothing new.

Please. Do go on with the book "predictions"

You don't see Google and Amazon paying a token donation to most foreign governments as a failure of tax structure? I don't know how old you are, but I am in my 40s, therefore I can remember the days when companies didn't decide how much tax they would pay to a particular country.

The second point, as I said I summarised because I couldn't handle your annoying gif, which is off screen now, so I will elaborate.

They talk very specifically about forums, and platforms like this; they are also being very particular when talking about the networks, and who exactly will be best placed to take advantage of them.

Humans have always been doing that whether we talk about trade networks or online ones. Nothing new.

The new concept is humans that do not have any special privilege or are involved with huge legislated organisations.

You as an individual, can order things from China, and trade in a way you simply would not have been able to, up until very recently.

I am a member of a forum, which is invite only, which swaps tactics and tricks in order to get the best deals and products when purchasing from China. This is the type of thing that Netocracy confidently predicted would happen. If I know about that one, there are 100s of others I don't know about.

I'm sure that you in your infinite, hindsight-fed wisdom, saw this as an obvious progression in 2000, however for the rest of the planet, nobody saw that coming. Netocracy did.

Look it's fine, you don't like the book and feel strongly enough to troll me about it; however I will stick by what I wrote, as ultimately, the book was a huge part of the journey I'm on now. I'd go as far to say it's a reason why I'm heading in the direction I'm heading in now, and why I'm making money on and off Steemit.

Cg

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

@cryptogee

Google and Amazon do pay taxes to their host country. They are part of the monetary exchange system and actually pay way more taxes than you think.

Platforms and Forums are even described in Science Fiction books of the 1950's. Again no prediction there. One can only connect the dots. As long as online communication existed it would't take much to predict that whatever activity was happening outside, will happen inside the cyberspace.

Actually everybody saw it coming. You are just shilling a book for re-marketing the obvious. I wrote a paper similar to this book back in 2001 for a philosophy class. I got the idea from Arthur C. Clark.

I am not trolling you about the book. I am pointing out your historical gaps that made you think that the book was an original idea. It is not. Most of it has been said during the 1990's.

Here is an extra something to chew upon

(I changed the picture above. Posted a book to see how much copy-pasta your book has)

  ·  8 years ago (edited)

Interesting discussion or exchange of opinions. As far as Google and Amazon or other similar "corporation whales" and paying taxes goes - somebody would have to convince me that I should believe Google and Amazon would deal with that topic different than Apple. Here's an interesting piece that is worth anybodies time that reflects on that question:

"I will wait for the film"

(I'm joking! :P i ordered a hard copy! as i like to own physical books myself.)

Nothing beats the smell of a new book. Maybe the new car smell!! That's amazing!

Lolz; I know what you mean, I value books over music; I have stopped lending them out, the last 2 I lent, one was lost and the other came back in awful condition.

Cg

Thanks for the recommendation. Check out the Soveriegn Individual: How to survive and thrive in the Information Age. Written in 1998 - long read but generates it's thesis around of course the implications of technology. It had predicted things you said and even more. Even predicted the Nationalist (Trump) vs. Socialist (Hilary) pandemic the worlds in now. It predicted micro war (terrorism and ISIS). Long and tiring read that will make you feel cynical but enthused at the same time.

Adios

The world is changing - it is a fact. Cryptocurrency - is a future that already here

The world is and always was in constant state of change, we just ignored it all.... but the new age of enlightenment is people waking up to this.

O mundo sempre foi assim, mas so agora tomamos ciencia

Hey, is there anywhere to download the book?

Not sure, try Amazon, that's where I got my copy, you won't regret it :-)

Cg

Looks like a great book!

Thank you for the excellent practical and motivational advice!
Followed your blog - looking forward to sequels....

looking forward to sequels.

I'm beginning to see what my net reputation is and how important it is.

Good stuff, keep building on it.

Cg

Really nice post! Cheers! :)

Protect your reputation... good advice!

Good post. Thank you for the share.
Anyone know if the book that is mentioned is available on audiobook?

Thank you @spartanza, I'm not sure, I got my hard copy from Amazon.

Cg

Great article, great advice, thanks!

Building a good reputation for yourself is important in the online and offline world. Some may have experienced great long term benefits from a good reputation in their professional lives despite coming from unprivileged background, being a woman or having a strange accent.

Interesting... some very good thoughts relating to Steem.

Unfortunately much power is physically in the hands of some few. For example, the physical internet costs much to connect to. If this becomes a monopoly or comglomorate of monopolies then all other benefits will bow or be subject to those who own it.

Also, every day tons of action and work is being done independant almost to the online world. We depend on the physical skills of many.

We must find our place in the world and discover who we are, or else we may end up controlled by messages tailered personally to us.

Let me recommend an alternative vision.
Yes, we can shape the online digiital conversation and gain influence through our reputation, and lets do this . Let's positively transform our world using our online-influence.

But let's increase our relevancy by being complicated, connected to life, nature-inspired, real-life people who are physically involved and truly experienced. We are not yet beyond the reach of our earthly troubles, so lets also do this world. Lets help the poor, improve national policy, and get the most out of life.

greaat post thanks @crytogee the book sounds interesting too... youre cnfirming what my little inner voice is saying

It's an amazing book, check it out :-)

Cg

An article very interesting and instructive

Interesting. I gotta get my hands on that book!

You really should, it's one hell of a book!

Cg

there will be no life after capitalism for humans. they would be all dead.

Well then we should all be dead already, we are living in a post-capitalist world

I think I'll look for the book , I think he just may be up to something, Bard I mean.

Thanks @cryptogee!

Please do, you won't regret it, there are plenty of moments when you're thinking "Well that's obvious..." and then you remember it was written 16 years ago and not 2! Some of the things they predict are quite breathtaking :-)

Bard is an interesting character, he seems to be an impenetrable intellectual; I have a feeling I would feel very dumb in his company. I'd love to know what him and Soderqvist think of Steemit.

Cg

16 years ago??! More reason to read it then. Thanks for such a great recomendation!

Yeah, silly of me, I didn't really labour that point in the article :-)

Cg

I read a lot however this is the first ti e I see the book. Thank you @cryptogee so much for sharing your knowledge and Yes must read as well for sure.

We have a lot of work to do. For me it's quite difficult to write, i've never done this in more than 20 years. So, it's a little bit slow for me. I have little posts under my belt, but I try to make each posts as most valuable and meaningful as possible. This post really helped and drives me to continue.

Excellently done. Yet another book for the Wish List... :-)

Have you read Paul Mason's book, Post-Capitalism? If not I think you might be intrigued.

I wrote something like this in my wall check it out if you are interested, cheers!

I haven't read that, I'll check it out.

Cg

Thanks for this, from my point of view you've written incredibly expansively. I often zone into things getting deeper and deeper. You've certainly provided some inspiration.

I'll be checking out that book.

This is very well-written and insightful, and illustrates beautifully what I've come to realize about the Internet the more I've used it and been involved in its communities for both work and pleasure....the Internet is the great equalizer. Everyone starts out the same here. There is no discrimination based on any factor that may come into play in the "real world." Everyone beings in the same place, and can build or ruin their influence online by how carefully they tend their reputation. Fortunes are built online by regular people just by them taking good care of their reputation.

Our reputation is our brand, with anything we do online, commercial, personal, or otherwise. We can do whatever we want with it, and the sky is the limit. We can also have more than one online identity and a reputation associated with each identity, which is something we can't do in the physical world. What we do with our reputation or reputations is up to us.

I haven't read the book you referenced, but I should; it sounds fascinating. Thank you for this valuable addition to the Steem platform. We can all learn something valuable from it.

  ·  8 years ago Reveal Comment

Very interesting content. I can see most of the points, but I am going to read again.
dubloon135

Cool; enjoy! :-)

Cg

I have not read or even heard of the book, but ill read it shortly. However I must add... book or no book, a nice offering to the community sir.

We can all see our lives change via technology, social media and governmental controls (which the internet dissipates more and more daily). I have built a career online since 1995, this evolution for people was, is and will be difficult for people to accept. However just like Netflix, Music, News, even your food shopping are and will become all web based.

We may as well understand and use it now as most will be trying to catch up... and the older you get the harder will be.

It's so true, we have to open our mind to change more and more; my parents generation were told to get "a job for life". Now the concept of that is completely alien to most people in the developed world.

Cg

"Since time and memorial, trust and reputation have always been important in human societies all over the world."
Yes. Money is just embodied trust. The blockchain (which I didn't talk about here) is an example of a more detailed accounting mechanism.
http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/cgi-bin/mag.cgi?do=columns&vol=randall_hayes&article=002

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Unfortunately the comment tree has finished for my debate with @kryiacos who is pathetically trying to troll me. The last point I'll make, proving that this user really doesn't know what he is talking about, first of all a direct quote and then a link to an article that is so widely known, it staggers me that someone could be as ignorant as @kyriacos.

Google and Amazon do pay taxes to their host country. They are part of the monetary exchange system and actually pay way more taxes than you think.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/04/google-uk-tax-deal-share-options-scheme

Cg