Greetings, and GM!
This is Part 2 of WSJ x BTC x Ordinals IRL from Monday. You can read that post here if you missed it or are a new subscriber.
Mania eventually captures us all and causes us to react in ways we wouldn’t absent from the external influence.
We do weird things during hype cycles, because our brains haven’t evolved to handle the rapid advancement of our digital environment and its 24-7 stimuli. We look around to investigate how others react in an effort to compensate for our lack of understanding of what to DO when so much information is available, whether from TV, phone, advertising, audio books, streaming, podcasts, and now AI generative outputs.
As a result, it’s become very easy to cause mania within populations and to elicit reactions from its members. We simply don’t know what’s true today, so we run the risk of just doing what everyone else is doing without actually thinking about why.
Christopher Wylie is a whistleblower who wrote an interesting account of his experience as an insider within Cambridge Analytica. The book is titled Mindf*ck and is worth the time for those interested in the subject of how a team could influence populations with a little effort. It’s important to leave aside political alignments while reading this book and concentrate on the ease with which a motivated group, state, corporation, or individual could use the existing 24-7 technology environment to manufacture mania and an outcome of behaviors.
I’ve been frustrated my entire life as a consumer of news and media, because I have always been left with the question of “now what?” What was I supposed to do with the information I had just read? Articles frequently present information with urgency but without guidance. It’s just information without any coordination or action steps.
I felt this frustration after reading Wylie’s account of the workings of Cambridge Analytica. They had rigged a system to affect how people thought about culture and personal beliefs. They had guided people down a path of information, content, to elicit an outcome to the benefit of their clients. The people just didn’t know what was true and what was content published for the single purpose of influencing their beliefs and ultimate behavior. The people, the targets, made up clusters within a network who all started to act in response to others within their network. They were easily guided once they had lost their understanding of what was true and what was content crafted to influence them. An effective machine had been built to initiate tests and refine the series of messages to create a response to assure that enough people acted in a certain way to influence the whole. But, what was I supposed to DO with that information as the reader? Newsfeeds may be weaponized, so now what??
ImmutableType is what I decided to do, not simply because of the Cambridge Analytica of the world, but because of the future wellbeing of my young daughter. The risk for her generation to grow up in a completely dictated information state is dire, and the only way to prevent this trap is to create a system which becomes increasingly more sustainable from its own actions to increase benefits for the public good.
Blockchain solves this, as we like to say. By committing information (articles, photography, media) to the blockchain, we are creating immutable records which no power may change or rewrite in the future; and, by creating rewards for journalists to invest their time into creating the most valuable information resources of events, we solve for aligning incentives of journalists and the interests of their readers. Work which benefits the lives of the readers will be prioritized above work which creates content to display ads for advertisers.
Additionally, by walling off reader identity from the aggregation machines (Google, Facebook, Experian) we will provide tools for members to manage control of their data within their own custody. ImmutableType will not gather and store the information of members which the members do not choose to provide. Members will hold their own keys to their behavioral data and give access if they see value in doing so. The headlines of stories from ImmutableType are not going to be optimized based upon reader engagement metrics, psychographic data, political affiliation, behavioral metrics, or even simple demographics. We’re not going to centrally store any of it. Members will provide access as they choose. The members of ImmutableType are our clients, not the advertisers, nor the data brokers, and this affords us the incentive to serve the interests of members and readers. Our members are journalists and community members. We (don’t) run ads, Senator.
This opening may be attacked on numerous fronts. So be it. We’re so early. Perhaps the development efforts to build this solution will require many, many, iterations to get the formula right for the public good. So be it. The work will create a path forward. We have to align the incentives of the curators of information with the public whom they are serving, or we’ll never be able to believe our eyes, nor trust our decisions during mania events in the future.
Blockchain solves it all.
TL;DR
Part 1 (published May 22, 2023)
Why Bitcoin Conference for ImmutableType?
Ordinals Inscriptions emergence is the real story WSJ has the opportunity to sell
Part 2 (TODAY)
Bitcoin branding is a feature AND a bug
Decentralizing journalism may be a perilous journey
Links from the show worth sharing widely
Secret Shopify store for Immutabletype.com
Wen Ordinals drop from ImmutableType??
Bitcoin Branding is a Feature AND a Bug
I’m going to say the quiet part out loud: Bitcoin culture can be off-putting for some.
I’ve been in the space for some time, and I’m accustomed to the personalities and the religion, so I take it in stride most of the time. Every once in awhile, though, its brand makes me cringe with concern. Agreed, that’s a ‘me’ problem, but it’s worth discussing.
Bitcoin as a brand is based on a vibrant orange touted by loud, loud, personalities shouting in public spaces. The culture is impossible to miss, which is its brand feature. It’s always shouting, because its mission is critical and urgent and requires attention to rise above the fray of entrenched habits. People within the culture are excited and clear headed of what they want to accomplish, which comes down to self-sovereignty. That pursuit may take on many forms, such as individualism, anarchism, prepper-ism, high-minded theory, and even leader of a marching band in a parade. It’s welcoming and off-putting at the same time, because it’s not an easy onboarding process to join the party. One has to be really committed to joining the party, so once you’re in, you’re not leaving. You’re probably going to lead a parade soon enough.
Alas, maybe it’s my age showing, but the thought I had during one of the panels was, “man, I wish we looked a bit more professional.” I have no right to wish that upon the panelists, of course, but it sure would help with adoption and support across the wider population. This ‘bug’ is what allows no-coin blowhards to insinuate to their constituents that we’re “unworthy” of inclusion in the decisions of designing the infrastructure which will undergird the next evolution of financial systems. It’s a headwind at times, because we want new people to join for the utility, not the tech.
My wish is completely without merit of how people “should” conduct themselves, but it sure does make it hard to argue that we have it all together when observed by traditional outsiders. I know we can’t ask panelist to shave, or wear closed-toe footwear, or not be so abrasive in public, because it’s nobody’s business. The rebels need to look like rebels if they so choose. I’m wrong, I know it. I just wish I could take Bitcoin home to meet mom.
Decentralizing Journalism may be a Perilous Journey
First, why “decentralization” of journalism?
Short answer #1: Within the United States, a small number of corporations own nearly the entire media landscape and have centralized decision making away from local communities and economies in service of their investors and advertisers. This creates homogeneous narratives biased toward a few self-interested parties susceptible to perverse incentives. Centralized narratives is a bad trend for a free society, and the business model assures it’ll continue.
The antidote is to create a new business model for localized news and media which serves the interests of local communities and economies, thus a form of decentralization of control and information priorities.
Short answer #2: When perverse incentives are in play, corruption is more likely to succeed, and if fewer people need to be corrupted, then the job to corrupt becomes easier over time. The end result is a fully captured media environment of entrenched incentives which lock in the newsrooms to deliver a tops-down narrative. This is, also, bad. Very bad.
The antidote here is to create more points of light which operate with positive incentives which are more powerful and appealing than the perverse incentives. When more people are incentivized to speak on their own behalf, corruption becomes more difficult and more trustworthy information will shine through the imposed tops-down narratives.
Short answer #3: Attack vectors. With centralized news and media, as with anything, the technical operation sits on top of technology owned by a business which is susceptible to influence. The control of those machines allows them to be ‘shut down’ or interrupted, either by internal actors or external attacks.
The antidote here is to decentralize access points of technology and to create immutable records which may not be altered under any influence. ImmutableType will evolve to support peer-to-peer decentralization away from these attack vectors. Read Island Nation below for further context.
Pish posh, some will say…
Well, if we’re successful, I expect ImmutableType.com to be banned in certain geographies and jurisdictions at some point in time. Our website sits on top of an AWS server from Amazon at the moment, and it’s very easy to block websites when they offend powerful people. We are using a web2 solution and pursuing a Web3 promise. The solution to that threat is to decentralize our technology so peers may share information directly without access to Immutabletype.com. This is a goal. We need to decentralize journalism so people may publish and fund journalism within the regions most in need of information exchange. This solution will need to be sustainable during times of conflict, as this is when journalists and communities will need us most. Decentralization increases the quantity of access points an attacker would need shut down, so we’ll need to roll off web2 when achievable. Contact me if you want to work on this project.
Which brings me to a story about “Island Nation”.
I met with some people this weekend that need a solution to help a/an journalist(s) of an “Island Nation” with a story which he/she/they posses but is/are unable to publish for fear of dire consequences. This story is of corruption and direct incrimination of a powerful public official that could result in efforts to remove the official. The official has wide power and authority to censure the population and implicate journalists as criminals, therefore this information is unable to come out under these circumstances, and this population will remain under rule and uninformed.
Island Nation journalist(s) need(s) protection and assurance that the story will be immutable and the identity of the publisher(s) will be inaccessible. The public needs to know that Island Nation journalist(s) is/are reliable and is/are funded by reliable people, and this is a challenge. If the identity(s) is/are revealed, Island Nation journalist(s) is/are imperiled directly on their own soil.
The solution to much of the above is Web3, blockchain, and cryptography. Identify consensus and decentralization are possible with trustless technology. We will devise solutions for these types of stories. Island Nation is one single example within a massive world of daily examples where decentralized news and media will increase the viability of human rights among the most perilous conditions. These decentralization solutions, thus, embark on their own perilous journey.
Links from the Show Worth Sharing
I walked the show floor a few times during the event and found some projects I hope bring value to readers. I don’t endorse any of the projects, nor have I received any compensation or gifts for these links. I’m just doing this because I found them fun and noteworthy.
-Let’s start with the Ordinals:
If you’ve read this far, you need to become familiar with Ordinals Inscriptions. I’ll follow up with a post about Ordinals and all the things…
Get a Bitcoin wallet for your phone: Xverse.app
Connect your wallet to shop on an Ordinals marketplace: Gamma.io or Magic Eden
-Books
Free PDF: The Simplest Bitcoin Book
I don’t know anything about this book, other than the book is free, and the author was quirky enough to be credible. I’ll read it on a plane as a PDF.
I’ve included this one, as he was a nice fellow with a good story about how he traveled with is kids around the world. I’m currently reading it at the moment.
Erik was extremely informative and great to meet in person. It’s on the stack at my bedside. There’s lots of charts and graphs, so you probably want the hardcopy.
-Merch
Very cool guy. Tees were high quality and well designed. I’m going to be buying some merch for myself.
It’s a board game that teaches kids about economics through the lens of Bitcoin.
My favorite stop of the day. Real Bedford FC is an incredible story with its own Ryan Reynolds-type hero, Peter McCormack. Peter bought a soccer club and founded it as the first Bitcoin standard FC. I purchased my daughter an orange home kit. She won’t take it off.
What’s a startup without merchandise? We call that an idea without execution. Merch makes us real, plus it’s super fun. This is a secret link to the fully operational store. Items arrive within days, and the funds go right back into building technology for journalists. Rock your IT fits!!
Wen Ordinals Drop from ImmutableType
The Headliners Collection will be a series of 52 drops which highlight traditional news headlines as AI generated graphics minted as NFTs. You may view the first 18 drops on ImmutableType.com. Collect one, they’re free to mint.
To date, three Headliners have been minted to Ethereum, 15 have been minted to Polygon, and I will create a drop as Ordinals Inscriptions within two weeks, perhaps sooner.
I will announce the Ordinals drop via this newsletter, so be sure to subscribe and share. The art is already complete, we’re just working on where we will drop the Inscriptions.
The graphics of our Decentralize Journalism stickers display some elements of the artwork we used for the drop, but we play off a couple memes across different chains to help bring us all together.
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
As always, thank you for reading and sharing. I’m excited for the upcoming drops on Immutable Type.
We’re learning loads each day and hope you enjoy the work as we build.
Cheers,
Founder, Immutable Type