Steem vs Synereo, which one will lead the decentralized social media revolution?

[americanpegasus]

So I just became aware of this concept of token-powered decentralized social networks tonight and am doing some research.  I see two main contenders: Synereo and Steem.  When all factors are considered: fairness to content creators, ease of use for lurkers, fairness of mining... which one do you think will win the impending war of decentralized social media?

[DecentralizeEconomics]

Synereo

Go watch the videos on their YouTube channel and tell me I'm wrong.

[jwinterm]

So I just became aware of this concept of token-powered decentralized social networks tonight and am doing some research.  I see two main contenders: Synereo and Steem.  When all factors are considered: fairness to content creators, ease of use for lurkers, fairness of mining... which one do you think will win the impending war of decentralized social media?

Why would you think either one has a chance of being remotely successful? Facebook has literally 33% or so of the world's inhabitants registered and using their service, making a good profit doing so, and the vast majority of people have no qualms about handing over their info to be a part of the network. Reddit is apparently barely profitable, but the mods and content creators of major subreddits can certainly monetize their moderating power or rep for producing content. Why would anyone invest or commit their time to some convoluted "social network" that relies on some third-party token that was completely premined or instamined and is lacking the content and connections of widely used services such as facebook or reddit? Call me jaded, but I'd say neither.

[smooth]

So I just became aware of this concept of token-powered decentralized social networks tonight and am doing some research.  I see two main contenders: Synereo and Steem.  When all factors are considered: fairness to content creators, ease of use for lurkers, fairness of mining... which one do you think will win the impending war of decentralized social media?

Why would you think either one has a chance of being remotely successful? Facebook has literally 33% or so of the world's inhabitants registered and using their service, making a good profit doing so, and the vast majority of people have no qualms about handing over their info to be a part of the network. Reddit is apparently barely profitable, but the mods and content creators of major subreddits can certainly monetize their moderating power or rep for producing content. Why would anyone invest or commit their time to some convoluted "social network" that relies on some third-party token that was completely premined or instamined and is lacking the content and connections of widely used services such as facebook or reddit? Call me jaded, but I'd say neither.

The Facebook comparison is not really valid. Other than sharing the word social there is little resemblance. Steem is somewhat like reddit, also somewhat like a blogging platform, maybe a bit like youtube (the channel organization and commenting features; Steem is not a video hosting service, although videos get linked there regularly). The functionality is nothing at all like Facebook. Whether or why anyone would use it I can't say. The token won't really matter and isn't even particularly visible to end users though, since the content rewards will be paid in a smart coin (USD pegged).

EDIT: The above is about Steem. I don't know enough about Synereo to comment on whether it might be more related to Facebook or whether its token has value.

[sofu]

Larimer says: Dumb holders fucked up Bitshares. But hey, lets make Steem 



https://steemit.com/crypto-news/@dan/is-the-dao-going-to-be-doa

[Nxtblg]

Larimer says: Dumb holders fucked up Bitshares.

Actually, Larimer independently re-discovered something that Wall Street (and top management!) have known about for decades. Most folks are passive with their investments.

[jwinterm]

So I just became aware of this concept of token-powered decentralized social networks tonight and am doing some research.  I see two main contenders: Synereo and Steem.  When all factors are considered: fairness to content creators, ease of use for lurkers, fairness of mining... which one do you think will win the impending war of decentralized social media?

Why would you think either one has a chance of being remotely successful? Facebook has literally 33% or so of the world's inhabitants registered and using their service, making a good profit doing so, and the vast majority of people have no qualms about handing over their info to be a part of the network. Reddit is apparently barely profitable, but the mods and content creators of major subreddits can certainly monetize their moderating power or rep for producing content. Why would anyone invest or commit their time to some convoluted "social network" that relies on some third-party token that was completely premined or instamined and is lacking the content and connections of widely used services such as facebook or reddit? Call me jaded, but I'd say neither.

The Facebook comparison is not really valid. Other than sharing the word social there is little resemblance. Steem is somewhat like reddit, also somewhat like a blogging platform, maybe a bit like youtube (the channel organization and commenting features; Steem is not a video hosting service, although videos get linked there regularly). The functionality is nothing at all like Facebook. Whether or why anyone would use it I can't say. The token won't really matter and isn't even particularly visible to end users though, since the content rewards will be paid in a smart coin (USD pegged).

EDIT: The above is about Steem. I don't know enough about Synereo to comment on whether it might be more related to Facebook or whether its token has value.

If you want to limit the discussion to reddit, the point I was making is that there is already an entrenched and very widely used service that mods and popular accounts can monetize their activity on (not too mention the people pushing their arts, web video series, indie video games, etc., half advertisement and half how it was made or something). What does steem offer over voat (where users can get paid directly in bitcoin for their contributions) rather than some more convoluted steem dollar payout, besides some vague promise of decentralization that apparently 0.000001% of the world cares about? And voat is basically a ghost town. People generally use what is popular, and I don't see a great reason why people would prefer steem over something like voat, which has already been tried (and still exists as a simpler alternative to steem if you just want to get paid - bitcoins are simpler than steem dollars/vests/its/whatevers).

Reddit is very popular, and the network effect is powerful. If people just wanted to get paid, why not voat? Unless you think the magical decentralization fairy is what people are really craving, why would people use steem? (And I would argue that steem is really not very decentralized since the founders instamined 80% or whatever and can dominate the voting in their security model anyway.)

[numismatist]

So I just became aware of this concept of token-powered decentralized social networks tonight and am doing some research.  I see two main contenders: Synereo and Steem.  When all factors are considered: fairness to content creators, ease of use for lurkers, fairness of mining... which one do you think will win the impending war of decentralized social media?

Who will win? Your landlord smooth, since we can see you have to pay him all your Steem since monthes
https://steemit.com/@americanpegasus/transfers

But regarding the "ease of use for lurkers" I have to confirm: Yes, ineed. And very entertaining, too.

[bathrobehero]

More than likely neither of them.

Firstly, social media platforms emerge based on what people pick up almost randomly regardless of features and secondly we already have an abundance of social media platforms and the most populars are here to stay for years at least.
I think at this point in time investing in new social media platforms is basically putting all your money on a single number on the roulette table...

[americanpegasus]

So I just became aware of this concept of token-powered decentralized social networks tonight and am doing some research.  I see two main contenders: Synereo and Steem.  When all factors are considered: fairness to content creators, ease of use for lurkers, fairness of mining... which one do you think will win the impending war of decentralized social media?

Who will win? Your landlord smooth, since we can see you have to pay him all your Steem since monthes
https://steemit.com/@americanpegasus/transfers

But regarding the "ease of use for lurkers" I have to confirm: Yes, ineed. And very entertaining, too.

I haven't even had control of that account.  I assume if it's been mining those profits don't belong to me.  I'm just happy he'll turn the name over to me.

[smooth]

So I just became aware of this concept of token-powered decentralized social networks tonight and am doing some research.  I see two main contenders: Synereo and Steem.  When all factors are considered: fairness to content creators, ease of use for lurkers, fairness of mining... which one do you think will win the impending war of decentralized social media?

Who will win? Your landlord smooth, since we can see you have to pay him all your Steem since monthes
https://steemit.com/@americanpegasus/transfers

But regarding the "ease of use for lurkers" I have to confirm: Yes, ineed. And very entertaining, too.

I haven't even had control of that account.  I assume if it's been mining those profits don't belong to me.  I'm just happy he'll turn the name over to me.

Exactly. When Steem first started none of us really know what we were doing. One of the few things we figured out is that you needed to mine with multiple accounts, and possibly using all different accounts on different computers. So I figured I would mine a bunch of well known forum names, etc. to protect them from squatters and then turn them over to the original owners. The coins I mined with them I transferred to my main account.

@ap, I contacted you about access to the account, let me know if not received.

@jwinterm, I agree with you to a large extent. It is a crowded space and all new platforms, ventures, etc. are risky and usually fail. My main quibble would be that there does seem to be a fair amount of churn, and even for reasons that are well addressed by a blockchain platform. Specifically, you mentioned voat, which I don't know a lot about but according to wikipedia, acquired a lot of users who left reddit in response to censorship and policy changes. Voat itself has faced outside pressure in the form of its Paypal being closed and being kicked off hosting. It is possible that users may churn between various platforms as they are pressured to adopt policies the users don't like, and then the users end up on a blockchain which is more resistant to such pressure. Or this may not happen, and it even if it does, it might be neither Steem nor Synereo that ends up benefiting. I'd also quibble that while mining, vests, etc. is interesting to those of us in the crypto space, it will be ignored and largely invisible to end users who will just see growing power (like karma) and rewards denominated in dollars.

@DecentralizeEconomics, I watched the Synereo youtube videos and I saw a very theoretical approach and major issues with lack of a core concern about time to market. I don't know what all the work on Ethereum/Casper has to do with Synereo at all or helping users in the social media space, other than Greg's interest in both. To me the project looks in danger of being unfocused on delivery and derailed into a vehicle to support Greg's math habit.

[numismatist]

Exactly. When Steem first started none of us really know what we were doing. One of the few things we figured out is that you needed to mine with multiple accounts, and possibly using all different accounts on different computers. So I figured I would mine a bunch of well known forum names, etc. to protect them from squatters and then turn them over to the original owners. The coins I mined with them I transferred to my main account.

All visible at https://steemit.com/@smooth/transfers save bet one could exchange parts of that URL with "aaa" "bbb" "ccc" or all the other recognized names, draw a map of trust between them. Somebody trusts someone with Steem ranging into 968 USD in value, but regarding Bittrex only doing a test transfer about 1 Steem first 

So roundabout "Synereo vs Steem" the Monerians kinda voted for Steem, or am I mistaken?

[DecentralizeEconomics]

@DecentralizeEconomics, I watched the Synereo youtube videos and I saw a very theoretical approach and major issues with lack of a core concern about time to market. I don't know what all the work on Ethereum/Casper has to do with Synereo at all or helping users in the social media space, other than Greg's interest in both. To me the project looks in danger of being unfocused on delivery and derailed into a vehicle to support Greg's math habit.

Greg is working with Vitalik and Vlad to develop the Ethereum 2.0 Casper blockchain, because it will also be utilized as a separate chain for Synereo.

[testz]

@DecentralizeEconomics, I watched the Synereo youtube videos and I saw a very theoretical approach and major issues with lack of a core concern about time to market. I don't know what all the work on Ethereum/Casper has to do with Synereo at all or helping users in the social media space, other than Greg's interest in both. To me the project looks in danger of being unfocused on delivery and derailed into a vehicle to support Greg's math habit.

Greg is working with Vitalik and Vlad to develop the Ethereum 2.0 Casper blockchain, because it will also be utilized as a separate chain for Synereo.

So we will see Synereo only after Ethereum 2.0 Casper blockchain will be released 

[tokeweed]

I like Synereo better, but their UI designs need work.

[smooth]

Exactly. When Steem first started none of us really know what we were doing. One of the few things we figured out is that you needed to mine with multiple accounts, and possibly using all different accounts on different computers. So I figured I would mine a bunch of well known forum names, etc. to protect them from squatters and then turn them over to the original owners. The coins I mined with them I transferred to my main account.

All visible at https://steemit.com/@smooth/transfers save bet one could exchange parts of that URL with "aaa" "bbb" "ccc" or all the other recognized names, draw a map of trust between them. Somebody trusts someone with Steem ranging into 968 USD in value, but regarding Bittrex only doing a test transfer about 1 Steem first 

So roundabout "Synereo vs Steem" the Monerians kinda voted for Steem, or am I mistaken?

All of those accounts are mine (except those that have been transferred to the associated person). No Monerians other than me voted or did anything else with steem afaik. I wouldn't even say I "voted" either, I mined it. For all you know I could have bought Synereo tokens too, either at ICO or after (but I haven't). As far as which platform will be successful if any, I really don't know, as I said earlier.

[smooth]

@DecentralizeEconomics, I watched the Synereo youtube videos and I saw a very theoretical approach and major issues with lack of a core concern about time to market. I don't know what all the work on Ethereum/Casper has to do with Synereo at all or helping users in the social media space, other than Greg's interest in both. To me the project looks in danger of being unfocused on delivery and derailed into a vehicle to support Greg's math habit.

Greg is working with Vitalik and Vlad to develop the Ethereum 2.0 Casper blockchain, because it will also be utilized as a separate chain for Synereo.

So we will see Synereo only after Ethereum 2.0 Casper blockchain will be released 

That's basically my point. The project has been derailed so Greg can work on distributed algorithm math problems he finds more interesting. To me it looks like a misuse of ICO investor money, but I guess it is possible ICO investors were told about that. I don't really know. Ether way it looks like serious lack of focus and raises severe time to market issues.

[DecentralizeEconomics]

@DecentralizeEconomics, I watched the Synereo youtube videos and I saw a very theoretical approach and major issues with lack of a core concern about time to market. I don't know what all the work on Ethereum/Casper has to do with Synereo at all or helping users in the social media space, other than Greg's interest in both. To me the project looks in danger of being unfocused on delivery and derailed into a vehicle to support Greg's math habit.

Greg is working with Vitalik and Vlad to develop the Ethereum 2.0 Casper blockchain, because it will also be utilized as a separate chain for Synereo.

So we will see Synereo only after Ethereum 2.0 Casper blockchain will be released 

That's basically my point. The project has been derailed so Greg can work on distributed algorithm math problems he finds more interesting. To me it looks like a misuse of ICO investor money, but I guess it is possible ICO investors were told about that. I don't really know. Ether way it looks like serious lack of focus and raises severe time to market issues.

Synereo is planning on launching way before the completion of Ethereum 2.0 Casper blockchain.  They were discussing using the Omni protocol layer or the current Ethereum PoW blockchain, and the majority consensus was to utilize the current Ethereum blockchain.

Can you tell the launch date, at least approximately?

On last week's hangout, we showed posting and post-retrieval functionality in a live demo.
We'll open the app up for a first few users very soon.

Here is Dor, the CEO of Synereo LTD, discussing the launch time-frame.  For those who are interested, Synereo LTD, the company, doesn't own or control the Synereo tech stack or the decentralized social media application built on top of it.  Synereo LTD is developing the tech stack and social media application gratis and releasing it as open source.

[extee]

@DecentralizeEconomics, I watched the Synereo youtube videos and I saw a very theoretical approach and major issues with lack of a core concern about time to market. I don't know what all the work on Ethereum/Casper has to do with Synereo at all or helping users in the social media space, other than Greg's interest in both. To me the project looks in danger of being unfocused on delivery and derailed into a vehicle to support Greg's math habit.

Greg is working with Vitalik and Vlad to develop the Ethereum 2.0 Casper blockchain, because it will also be utilized as a separate chain for Synereo.

So we will see Synereo only after Ethereum 2.0 Casper blockchain will be released 

That's basically my point. The project has been derailed so Greg can work on distributed algorithm math problems he finds more interesting. To me it looks like a misuse of ICO investor money, but I guess it is possible ICO investors were told about that. I don't really know. Ether way it looks like serious lack of focus and raises severe time to market issues.

you're wrong. Greg is working on Casper because that's the blockchain that Synereo will ultimately use to be scalable and sustainable in the long run.
using the current ethereum blockchain will only be temporary for proof of concept.
the synereo team was given a grant to develop Casper which will benefit both Synereo and ethereum.
I've not looked at the Steem blockchain but if it's POW I know already it has no future.
Steem is going the reddit way while Synereo is more facebook/twitter like. so maybe there's space for both.
I must say I appreciate more the synereo team saying outright "we keeping most of the coins for development" rather than steem team claiming "no premine" only to discover 80% were basically cunningly premined by the dev.
apart from that good luck to both projects

[smooth]

@DecentralizeEconomics, I watched the Synereo youtube videos and I saw a very theoretical approach and major issues with lack of a core concern about time to market. I don't know what all the work on Ethereum/Casper has to do with Synereo at all or helping users in the social media space, other than Greg's interest in both. To me the project looks in danger of being unfocused on delivery and derailed into a vehicle to support Greg's math habit.

Greg is working with Vitalik and Vlad to develop the Ethereum 2.0 Casper blockchain, because it will also be utilized as a separate chain for Synereo.

So we will see Synereo only after Ethereum 2.0 Casper blockchain will be released 

That's basically my point. The project has been derailed so Greg can work on distributed algorithm math problems he finds more interesting. To me it looks like a misuse of ICO investor money, but I guess it is possible ICO investors were told about that. I don't really know. Ether way it looks like serious lack of focus and raises severe time to market issues.

you're wrong. Greg is working on Casper because that's the blockchain that Synereo will ultimately use to be scalable and sustainable in the long run.
using the current ethereum blockchain will only be temporary for proof of concept.
the synereo team was given a grant to develop Casper which will benefit both Synereo and ethereum.

Okay if given a grant for it makes a lot more sense. Still might be a distraction from the core product, but maybe not. It is the perception I had watching some of the videos. Maybe an incorrect one, but if so that is partially a fault of the videos.

I've not looked at the Steem blockchain but if it's POW I know already it has no future.
Steem is going the reddit way while Synereo is more facebook/twitter like. so maybe there's space for both.

Fair point.

I must say I appreciate more the synereo team saying outright "we keeping most of the coins for development" rather than steem team claiming "no premine" only to discover 80% were basically cunningly premined by the dev.
apart from that good luck to both projects

Premine has a specific meaning. I can tell you with 100% certainty it wasn't premined since I was right there mining along side them and I have no connection with them. Ninja/unfair/stealthy/etc. mining are more applicable. I agree that the "no premine" claim is shady and misleading even if literally true and shouldn't be there.