By Bitcoin Magasin - 6 måneder siden - Lesetid: 6 minutter
Bitcoin Og den arabiske våren: Leksjoner for revolusjonære som kommuniserer
Bitcoin is a Monetary Revolution
Bitcoin is not simply a new monetary tool, a new currency, or an additional asset class. I tell people that Bitcoin is a Monetary Revolution. The Bitcoin eco-system is full of innovations to bring value beyond simply price growth to new all-time-highs. You can say that the value proposition is built on the foundations of the ever-expanding benefits of the wonder-currency.
After my failed attempt to first invest in Bitcoin tidlig 2010, I found myself traveling and working in the Middle East, and Egypt in particular, later that year. Inadvertently, the events of the arabisk vår in the region showed me how today the Social Layer of Bitcoin can be a powerful tool supporting Bitcoin adopsjon.
Året 2010 var kulminasjonen av flere besøk jeg gjorde i regionen i løpet av de foregående årene som tillot meg å samle en stor gruppe venner og kolleger i Egypt. Egypt er et enormt imponerende land som er vert for en storby. Kairo er verdens første virkelig internasjonale metropol. På en eller annen måte maskerer dens eldgamle underverk den multinasjonale og multikulturelle blandingen av byen. Det er et økonomisk knutepunkt, menneskene er fantastiske, vennlige og åpne for ideer. Det er klodens første smeltedigel, etter å ha blitt etablert som sådan tusenvis av år før New York by skapte uttrykket. Jeg fant de deiligste sushirestaurantene i Kairo, den beste mangoen og den ferskeste fisken som ble servert på bredden av Nilen, hentet inn fra kysten av Alexandria.
Unfortunately, underlying the ancient wonders there existed issues of poverty, political unease, and the impact from regional tensions. I was told that around 1/3rd of the population of Cairo’s approximately 20 million people had trouble feeding themselves daily. Bribes to public servants, while prevalent, were not really the wicked administrative corruption found in the Western world but occurred as a survival mechanism to enable people to simply earn enough money for their daily necessities. The brewing pot of concerns in Egypt and the region ignited the Arab Spring in late 2010 and early 2011.
Rollen til sosiale medier og det sosiale laget
Når vi snakker om Bitcoin adoption, we talk about expanding the understanding and knowledge of people. The Bitcoin eco-system is filled with start-ups offering both free and paid services to help the broader public become knowledgeable and comfortable enough to adopt it. Not only is understanding important, the ability for current users to interact and communicate among themselves with clarity and no noise is also vital.
Akkurat som med Bitcoin adoption and the need for a supporting communication framework through the Social Layer, the role of Social Media was equally important in contributing to the events of the Arab Spring. Wikipedia stated that “In the wake of the Arab Spring protests, a considerable amount of attention focused on the role of social media and digital technologies in allowing citizens within areas affected by ‘the Arab Uprisings’ as a means for collective activism to circumvent state-operated media channels.”
I 2010 var Facebook den beste plattformen for å forsøke å kommunisere semi-støyfritt om ulike emner og få kontakt med likesinnede kohorter. Det var organiseringsverktøyet som forankret et bredere sosialt lag støttet av slike som WhatsApp og Tango, hvor sistnevnte var den viktigste chat-appen over hele Midtøsten på den tiden, og mekanismen, sammen med direkte gammeldagse telefonsamtaler, som jeg pleide å holde kontakten med mine egyptiske venner og kolleger.
kildeStøy og det sosiale laget
We all know about and have experienced email spam, fake accounts on various social media portals, and comments from influencers that are masked self-promotions. In the Bitcoin world, we often attribute such noise to the crypto-sphere with the all-to-often “free coin giveaway” promotions.
Noise, or white noise as was written about in the novel titled “White Noise” by Don DeLillo in 1985 that won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction, has haunted Bitcoiners for over a decade. This noise equally impaired efforts during the Arab Spring in allowing clear communication between people. It continues to impair Bitcoiners like myself today, if perhaps under less ominous circumstances.
A social experience or movement can only become an effective Social Layer when noise is lessened. Reducing or removing noise enables development of a usable and supportive Social Layer for Bitcoin.
Leksjoner for BitcoinERS
I løpet av den arabiske vårens dager ble rapporter fra mainstream-medier i regionen sterkt stilt spørsmål ved. Regionen stolte ikke på de ulike kabelbaserte nyhetstjenestene. Dette forsterket rollen til et sosialt lag som mekanismen for å kommunisere og dele synspunkter, tanker og planer. For meg prøvde jeg ofte forgjeves å holde meg oppdatert om hendelsene og sikkerheten til vennene mine. Nyhetskilder var imidlertid uklare, ofte motstridende og partiske. Jeg tok alt dette med en klype salt og måtte gå direkte til kildene på bakken, altså chatter med vennene mine via Tango, følger Facebook-grupper og via gammeldagse telefonsamtaler.
Like the noise I experience today when trying to understand and sort through information that is valuable and factual regarding Bitcoin, I experienced the same noise dilemma during the Arab Spring events.
Today I am frustrated when I read a report or see a Tweet commenting on the price of Bitcoin based on some influencer’s supposed “expertise”, only to then find over the next few weeks that Bitcoin rallies to a near-term high. I recall one specific Tweet, just as when Bitcoin hit its recent cycle low, saying that “we should all expect it to hit $10,000.” I am not a trader of Bitcoin but get upset when this type of noise is spread. I also get irritated when I am contacted by someone implying that they are a Bitcoiner only to find out that they just want to connect within the realm of the dating-world and don’t even know how to spell hodl. Back during the Arab Spring, I was equally frustrated when phone calls to colleagues dropped unexpectedly, messages via Tango were cryptic and the Facebook accounts of friends were blocked. With frustration the questions I sent were often unanswered: “Was that you on TV at the march?” “Is your area of Cairo blocked off?”
While today I can say that noise in the Bitcoin world is more of an unreasonable annoyance, to my friends in Egypt noise was a matter of personal well-being or even life-and-death. Social Media then was the means for mobilization and action, a Social Layer. Today the Social Layer of Bitcoin is the mechanism for pursuing further adoption. We are all certainly irritated today when some social media giants block or restrict accounts that discuss Bitcoin. However, can you imagine what it felt like to my Egyptian friends back in 2011 when they could not access their perceived noise-free gateways to understand what their future would hold?
Den monetære revolusjonen møter den sosiale lagrevolusjonen
I have experienced that “Noise” is the adversary of freedom. It impaired my Egyptian friends from effectively supporting their desired national transformation. It also impairs my support for Bitcoin and its Monetary Revolution. A strong Social Layer provides feeling, context and motivation. Just as I felt the angst of my friends day-to-day as they experienced the uncertainties of the Arab Spring, I feel disappointment when I seek to find rigorous and valuable connections in the Bitcoin space that only result in wasted time and false relations. From my first investment in Bitcoin I have supported the development of its echo-system and simultaneously support the role-out of a deep Social Layer so that there can be Less Noise but More Signal.
What I have learned from my experience is that the Social Layer of Bitcoin is creating a Social Revolution for the asset. We need to disrupt old modes of communication to assure and protect the ability for real human interaction among Bitcoiners that is not impaired by noise. I don’t want to have my life’s Bitcoin connections held ransom to the whims of whom I meet only randomly. I am taking the seeds of what I learned from the time during the Arab Spring and planting them today in Bitcoin’s Social Layer. Stronger relationships will help to build a stronger Bitcoin.
Dette er et gjestepost av Enza mynt. Meninger som er uttrykt er helt sine egne og gjenspeiler ikke nødvendigvis de fra BTC Inc eller Bitcoin Blad.
Opprinnelig kilde: Bitcoin magazine