ByWire: Read news and earn crypto

ByWire is a decentralised news-orientated dapp (built on the EOS blockchain).

Are you disillusioned or overwhelmed by your current intake of news, mobile app or subscription fees? There could be a way to feel more positive.

It’s only in alpha phase, so it’s still in development, but I’m already enjoying using it, and the frontpage has already good categories and sections. It has Top Stories, Local News, Entertainment, Sports, ByWire and Crypto news….

There’s been some effort here from the UK-based team behind it. The design is good, the sections are clear, the ecosystem model is in place: it all looks good.

The sections and quantity of news appearing on there feels impressive.

What’s interesting is you get rewarded, like any crypto platform, for engaging with the site. This means reacting to articles with emojis, commenting, writing and you can reward articles and writers directly.

This level of engagement is great to see, as so often news articles are churned out online, with no comments or second opinions allowed.

Get yourself some WIREbit tokens

Signing up was a straight-forward process via Google etc, so you don’t need an existing EOS account to do this yet, only when it comes to transferring out earnings and trading on DEXEOS.

[And I’m placing this entry under ‘crypto offers‘ because if you sign up early, you may get additional free crypto / WIREbit tokens in your dashboard, for getting in early.]

The token is deflationary, and you can stake it on the platform for interest. However, staking also grants you influence and governance rights over the ‘democratic principles of the site’.

The navigation is currently geared around a side navigation menu.

There’s a separate site for the Wirebits token and for the team behind it.

screenshot of navigation menu (messages, wirebits earnings etc.)

The State of Content Platforms

Personally, I’m looking for a break from biased newspapers (especially UK ones) like The Guardian versus The Times, always shedding one-sided opinions and never a balanced view in sight.

And I’m looking for a break from Google news algorithms too, come to think of it. I just have no idea where they pluck these items from, and I’m left reading all sorts of small, click-bait articles with snappy titles and often rubbish content. I did select topics I’m interested in but it’s strange what I actually choose to read.

I don’t find many people commenting or challenging writers, and writers need to be challenged, if they’re going to present others with their opinions.

Is news becoming flash-browsing of titles only, with much of it fake or paid for.

The truth is, I don’t feel I have a lot of real control over my news intake (on mobile mostly), although it’s true I don’t make an effort to subscribe to one publication in particular. But many people – most people? – don’t want or can’t afford subscriptions.

Enter the token model like a breath of fresh air. News can be judged and rewarded directly. It could be great.

[Another news-based project crypto-project is Civil, which I need to check up on, but it’s more aimed at ‘news-rooms’ and has seemed overly complex.]

Don’t get me started with Medium. Although I have a page there, I find it full of click-bait titles and horrible, self-help/motivational mediocre articles too. How many people are actually writing there, because they have something to say? It feels like they’ve gone out and found something to say instead.

However, that’s not completely fair: there are tons of great technical writing on Medium, direct updates from developers and real people which help to redeem it. Medium is also interesting because the interface is so easy and well-designed, and it all works without any need for crypto or a token ecosystem.

But… you have to subscribe, when you run out of your quota of free articles many potential readers are lost.

“Sorry, you have reached your quota of free articles for this publication.”

A new model…?

Can projects like ByWire actually work to inspire great writing and engagement, and become ‘community-run’ effectively in the future via DAO? Or will that too become saturated with everyone writing for the sake of writing?

At least, you get to send back more varied reactions and responses to articles, over just ‘claps’, as on Medium.

I’d like to put my money on an ecosystem like this over the old, subscription-based, centrally-run and curated set-up.

One big reason is just because I no longer like the idea of unseen minds deciding and checking content behind my screen.

So I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing successful and effective, community-run, transparent, decentralised content platforms challenge the status quo. Narrative.org, as another example, but getting initial engagement away from normal platforms is no easy task, without a v. healthy and attractive token model.

But good luck, ByWire.