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Re:The promise and paradox of decentralization by agumonkey on Friday November 05, 2021 @01:42PM (#29122447)
I can't wait for when decentralization fanatics will invent some kind of order that will very much look like the good old natural pyramid one can encounter anywhere..
Re:The promise and paradox of decentralization by forgotmypw17 on Friday November 05, 2021 @01:50PM (#29122541)
The major difference between decentralized pyramids and centralized ones is the size.

The bigger the size of a network, the more attractive it is to abusers, while at the same time being more difficult to manage.

Re:The promise and paradox of decentralization by evancoop on Friday November 05, 2021 @04:23PM (#29124344)
That would suggest an oscillation - network effects to inflate network sizes, abuse, mismanagement, frustration, disruption, creation of a new paradigm. Lather, refactor, repeat?
Re:The promise and paradox of decentralization by forgotmypw17 on Friday November 05, 2021 @10:10PM (#29126914)
I don't think it is always the case. There are many networks which remain small and do not over-grow, but you are less likely to know about them.

Typically, they are constrained by some limitation like being for an offline group or requiring a vouching process to join.

Re:The promise and paradox of decentralization by skulk on Friday November 05, 2021 @02:17PM (#29122893)
It already exists, the two ideas just haven't been been combined yet. I'm imagining a decentralized platform with StackOverflow-style reputation (higher score = more power) tracked in a blockchain.
Re:The promise and paradox of decentralization by nonameiguess on Friday November 05, 2021 @04:13PM (#29124246)
What you're imagining also (sort of) already exists. Credit reporting agencies, the Better Business Bureau, Yelp, Angie's List. They're "centralized" in the sense of reputation data is stored in a database with a single owner rather than something like a blockchain, but decentralized in the sense that anyone can submit reports, reviews, or votes.

Importantly, a blockchain is not very fit for an application like this because it is append-only. That makes perfect sense for a transaction ledger, where you want immutable history and transactions are reversed by entering a new transaction with the signs reversed, but you really want the ability to correct a reputation history by actually redacting false reports rather than just appending a correction.

Re:The promise and paradox of decentralization by photochemsyn on Friday November 05, 2021 @05:04PM (#29124725)
> "the ability to correct a reputation history by actually redacting false reports rather than just appending a correction..."

George Orwell's 1984 features a main character whose job is just this: rewriting history by 'redacting false reports'.

Of course well-meaning people will set up these systems without considering the potential for abuse. In many cases, persistence is desired - it does matter who said what when, historical written letters are important documents, and records of actions also form institutional histories. Normalizing the 'redacting of false reports' can easily turn into rewriting history for propaganda reasons.

I suppose you could have a two-lane social media system, one channel where comments and posts were not anonymous and were recorderd for posterity, and one channel for anonymous ephemeral chatter. However, trying to run both channels on one platform might not work, legally or technologically.

Re:The promise and paradox of decentralization by agumonkey on Friday November 05, 2021 @03:01PM (#29123426)
out with old, old is the new new