Jack Dorsey Proposes Decentralized Social Media Protocols

9:13am ET, Dec. 11: @jack tweetstorms
9:14am ET, Dec. 11: @techtwitter

On Wednesday, CEO Jack Dorsey said Twitter will hire up to five people to create an open and decentralized standard for social media...likely blockchain-based. Dorsey cited Techdirt editor Mike Masnick's article arguing for a "protocols, not platforms" approach.

Without getting too technical, think of this like email vs. Gmail. Email uses open protocols; companies build features or services on top of it, like Gmail. Along with other email clients, Gmail doesn't control the underlying protocol. Dorsey said Twitter would ideally become a client of the new social media protocol.

How it could work:

• Users develop competing interfaces, filters, and services (dibs on Tweester).
• They could then select the service they're most interested in.

Wrapping it together

Decentralization and a censorship-resistant blockchain → no centralized private company policing the platform. Dorsey's proposal doesn't solve social media's problem of dumpster fire content.

But users could sign up for services that won't promote problematic content. Dorsey thinks this could help the industry pivot away from algorithms that push harmful content and toward "healthy conversation."