Why be interested in shifting to a decentralised blog option?

As a WordPress-based blogger, I ask myself that question, along with all those others…

What will happen if WordPress goes down? How can I get something back from content I put time and effort into researching and posting? And… is that possible without using annoying pop-ups, notifications and ads to visitors? Should I upgrade my subscription, so I can have more features and control (like paywalls and tipping buttons)? How can I get lifetime rewards for my content? Will anybody even find it?

It’s so true, there are a ton of great advantages and features that WordPress (etc.) enables for: Organising all one’s content, hosting the site oneself, enabling private posts, allowing colleagues to have log-ins, for contributors and IT access, or using plug-ins that auto-publish onto blockchains anyway… The features are pretty overwhelming, considering people used to just open up a journal and write words on lines.

Pro bloggers could do with a whole IT team to cover all that, so they can get on with worrying about the content, and publishing the damn stuff.

Should we surrender our WP features, and give all that up (and put all our faith into) a blockchain-based option, with decentralised tech and tipping features, secured by cryptocurrency?

Starting the process is looking more attractive all the time…

For one thing, hacking and spamming are hugely reduced with decentralized storage and architecture. It also protects your data from getting harvested by WordPress et al, or subscription fees suddenly changing. Actually, you don’t even have to pay any subscription, just a small transaction fee every time you post.

Developers working on these platforms get paid in crypto, and are creating platforms that will continue beyond their own existence. WordPress relies on continued subscribers and users.

Also for bloggers, the idea of not having to worry about so many features, and simply getting a clean blog; one which is focused only on content, logged on a public blockchain, and where users can easily tip or vote or whatever… indefinitely.

What is Decentium.org and is it decent?

I’ve been looking at Decentium.org, and reading the About section. I made a profile and a post. It’s clean, a bit like Medium. And it’s on EOS, one of the top blockchains that’s more than likely here to stay.

[There are lots of other blockchain-based social networks with blogging options out there, and I’ve got a handy list going (see link…) Blockstack has promising dapps too.]

Choosing a blockchain means understanding what crypto it uses, how it’s governed, how strong is its community and development towards adoption, and how resistant to problems it might prove to be. Using crypto it means other users of the blockchain can vote or tip easily, but can it include traditional fiat options too?

Of course… the interface has to be easy.

The speed has to be good.

The tips or vote rewards shouldn’t be transitory (which is where Steem(it) lets its content creators down.)

It’s got to be fast and intuitive.

Preferably (although it’s still early) the blog platform has to have features for organising, categorising, searching back over one’s content. (For Steem users, Steempeak.com is the closest dapp that does this).

Decentium.org is pretty decent, and seems off to a good start. It could be ticking these boxes.

It’s not trying to do too many things, or be a Facebook and Tumblr.

The editor is nice and big, for the sake of clarity.

‘Endorsements’ is the fancy word for getting tips on your work.

It looks like it might integrate with Sense chat, another promising new dapp on EOS.

It needs to be easier when it comes to editing posts; delete mistakes.

Right now, it needs more content to explore (since it’s so new).

But there is some hope here and for EOS, which hasn’t seen a lot of such dapps like this.

One day, it could be the new home for Ade’s Press and all this content. For now, it’s like this.

Worth keeping an eye on, and more good news for EOS.

May 2019