From 2008–2010, hanging out on Twitter felt like spending 24/7 at a tech conference where everyone who was anyone was in attendance.
By 2015, Twitter morphed into the crossroads of culture and politics—but energetically, it still felt like the place to be.
By 2015, Twitter morphed into the crossroads of culture and politics—but energetically, it still felt like the place to be.
For me, this remained true through most of 2021.
But recently, something shifted—something SIGNIFICANT.
For the first time in at least a decade, the energy of growth and change is NOT concentrated on a social media platform.
But recently, something shifted—something SIGNIFICANT.
For the first time in at least a decade, the energy of growth and change is NOT concentrated on a social media platform.
The new energy is DECENTRALIZED across GitHub, Discord, YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, crypto exchanges, and NFT trading platforms.
And while this is certainly aligned with the growth of blockchain technology, it’s (notably) not a result of it.
And while this is certainly aligned with the growth of blockchain technology, it’s (notably) not a result of it.
Indeed, this decentralization of energy is happening ahead of the coming wave of tech decentralization!
For anyone trying to align themselves with this new energy, this can be annoying and confusing because there’s no clear place to look for consensus or direction.
For anyone trying to align themselves with this new energy, this can be annoying and confusing because there’s no clear place to look for consensus or direction.
But this is a feature, not a bug!
The frontier, the wild west, whatever you want to call it—
is identifiable as such because of the lack of centralized order.
Out here, it’s up to you.
YOU make tough choices—some will pay off, others will not.
This is the price of freedom 🦅
The frontier, the wild west, whatever you want to call it—
is identifiable as such because of the lack of centralized order.
Out here, it’s up to you.
YOU make tough choices—some will pay off, others will not.
This is the price of freedom 🦅
As I look back over the last 14 years of tech—and specifically at the pendulum swings toward, away from, and then back toward decentralization…
One thing stands out above everything else:
WHEN and WHERE the energy comes together are critically important.
One thing stands out above everything else:
WHEN and WHERE the energy comes together are critically important.
And for the first time in a VERY long time—maybe since 2006?—this is happening in a decentralized way across a variety of platforms.
•••••
Imagine a typical funnel that goes from a big volume to a small volume.
Everything gets squeezed into a tighter, more uniform flow.
•••••
Imagine a typical funnel that goes from a big volume to a small volume.
Everything gets squeezed into a tighter, more uniform flow.
That’s centralization 📉
Now flip that funnel upside-down—
You start with compact uniformity, but pretty soon, you end up with a huge—and growing—spread of energetic flows.
That’s decentralization 📈
Now flip that funnel upside-down—
You start with compact uniformity, but pretty soon, you end up with a huge—and growing—spread of energetic flows.
That’s decentralization 📈
Ultimately, I think it’s amazing I’ve been able to have a front row seat for these historical arcs:
On the first go-round, we achieved meta decentralization, but without a key component: PRIVACY.
On the first go-round, we achieved meta decentralization, but without a key component: PRIVACY.
Centralization offered us a lifeboat that enabled us to continue down various tech rabbit holes without solving the harder problem (privacy) first.
But now we stand on the event horizon of the privacy problem.
Troops are being deployed to the front lines all over the internet.
But now we stand on the event horizon of the privacy problem.
Troops are being deployed to the front lines all over the internet.
These troops are already decentralized, and now they’re spontaneously organizing themselves to usher in the second era of tech decentralization.
Everything we currently know is going to be affected by this massive shift.
How?
I can’t say—it’s an emergent order!
Everything we currently know is going to be affected by this massive shift.
How?
I can’t say—it’s an emergent order!
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