Standing on your principles & rising to the occasion

The way things are looking for us in the decentralized space, it feels like we are in an arms race against the centralized entities that control so much of the data we interact with on a daily basis. A truly pressing need is for developers and engineers, along with designers, and non-technical web3 community members to be educating users on the dangers of centralized data, the importance of distributed file sharing, and taking ownership of our own data. While a daunting task for even the most experienced developer, we have been making tremendous progress in this area, but not yet enough to convince users to abandon comfort and convenience for their own privacy, and sense of digital sovereignty

We have a serious issue that is actively working against the privacy and property rights of the digital citizenry - and that problem winds up being convenient. As difficult as it may be to believe, our own comforts are what is working against us as a whole. Large corporations have had a stranglehold on the ownership of our data for as long as anyone can remember the internet coming into existence. On that fateful day that Al Gore decided to turn his back on the privacy of users, and side with the ‘soon-to-be Tech Giants’ the citizens, and the users of what we know to be the internet were under attack. For some of us this will come as no surprise, but to a large portion of the population - most especially the younger generation - this may be a new concept. You see - I pre-date the modern internet. I was only a child, around 12 years old when AOL came out and took the PC by storm.

Alot has changed since then. But for all the advancements and iterations the internet has gone through, the legislation, and the manner in which developers are incentivized to build these applications and networks - Tech is essentially a zero sum game. The game is, our data of course. This is today’s true currency - or should I refer to it as ‘attention’. Our data is collected, which allows our attention, or what we pay attention to, to be collected, analyzed, scrutinized, and synthesized to work best for the companies attempting to sell us the endless amounts of crap that they make - just for you - specifically. And they mean it. Based on our search results, financial records, and even our medical records, we are catered to, and bombarded with aggressive advertising, bordering on what I will refer to as 'Mind Control' or, at the very least unethical manipulation of our emotions. Emotions, typically attributed to content we are being force-fed based on our ‘results’.

The mission of this system is to begin to take back, piece by piece, our digital sovereignty, and perhaps we can regain some of our freedom of choice. As of this writing, we are limited in the amount of moves we are able to make based on the situations that are set in front of us, controlled, to some extent by the information we receive and consume on a regular basis. The cycle needs to stop, or there will be no attention to save. I am not being dramatic either. The younger generation of developers and engineers are operating off of completely different principles and foundations than you or I base our decision off of. And because of this, the public is left defending itself, against itself, parents arguing with children, brother vs. sister, etc. By design. With endless amounts of.

So, what do we do about all of this? Our comfort is literally destroying us - and believe it or not, there is a significant portion of the user base, who wish for centralization - if only because this is what they are used to, and it is much simpler for other people to be held responsible for their data, records, etc. - or at least it seems there is a responsibility of these centralized organizations to safeguard our data, and look out for the user’s best interest.

But this, like so many topics which can be construed as objective - have been bastardized and taken advantage of in favor of profit, of financial gain or of data. Since there is no such thing as ‘free’, anytime we are utilizing a service, and we don’t have to pay for a subscription, or something set up in a similar way, we are paying with our privacy in one way shape or form. These networks and systems do not magically know what we are thinking, or what we have been searching on our browsers, they are politely, and out in the open surveilling us.
And. This. Needs. To. Stop.

We have ridden this train far enough, and now we are at the junction - the one from which, once we pass, we may not come back and limit. But, there is a multi-pronged attack being waged on the user base. Marketing. Like mentioned above, our younger users are not equipped with the same tools, and skepticism that many of us may seemingly been borne with. A healthy dose of distrust for dishonest actors, is what I like to consider my skepticism. Big Tech has seemingly taken over and is the lobby. They don’t hire lobbyist, the industry is just that, political lobbyists. And now there are daily developments showcasing how governments and tech companies are working together against the users of the applications and systems, to control the flow of information, and to monitor that information - who uses it, where they use it, what they buy, when they buy, the layout of actual user locations - thru the use of wifi tracking similar to the portrayal in BatMan - as well as legislation that is thrown into bills none of us know about - covered in word salads and legelese - but we are all expected to abide by these new regulations. My rant has a purpose, so let me get to it.

A decentralized tool like, I On You Review and Reputation System is one in a series of steps that will begin the long trek back to a privacy focused and user owned model of the internet. Surveillance Capitalism was sprung upon us here in America, and the rest of the world by default. This has given rise to a new plutocracy - the Technocrats, and tyrannical governments and leaders all over the world. It is not only the users and traditional developers who have the ability to build and speed up creativity and industry - governments are using the technology to speed up censorship and significant power grabs. Not to make this political, but the older I get, the more I realize that most business topics are actually political in nature, if only because the government has interjected itself as the de-facto referee in our business dealings - for a small fee of course - & referees most of us did not ask for and do not want. But these refs are players, too..
To be continued