Vitalik Buterin Explains Corposlop and How to Build a Sovereign Web

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin posted on Farcaster, defining “Corposlop.” It combines corporate optimization power, sleek, polished branding, and behavior that sacrifices ethics to maximize profit. I agree with maybe 60% of this, but the distinction between the “open web” (corposlop) and the “Sovereign Web” is important.

Corposlop includes social media that maximizes dopamine and outrage, unnecessary mass data collection often sold to third parties, walled gardens that charge monopolistic fees, and Hollywood releasing sequels for minimal risk. Corporations may rally around social causes and then publicly mock them. These trends disempower users while appearing respectable. Corposlop is soulless, homogenized, and trend-following.

Bitcoin maximalists understood this early. They resisted initial coin offerings (ICOs), tokens beyond bitcoin, and arbitrary financial applications to keep networks sovereign. Their methods sometimes restricted users, but their fear of corposlop was real.

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Sovereign Web Tools Against Corposlop Control

The Sovereign Web includes privacy-preserving, local-first apps. Social media should give users control over content. Financial tools should grow wealth responsibly, avoiding extreme leverage or loans for small purchases. AI should maximize productivity and learning, rather than letting users rely on bots. Companies and applications should have opinionated cultures and pursue unique objectives. DAOs can support communities without being dominated by tokenholders.

Bitcoin maximalists were early proponents of digital sovereignty. However, bitcoin maximalists opposed initial coin offerings (ICOs), non-bitcoin tokens, and random financial applications. Their approach might restrict user freedom, but they intended to maintain a degree of independence and sovereignty. Currently, the concept of sovereignty encompasses fighting against digital privacy and corporate mind control.

Digital sovereignty protects values against manipulation

The aim of corposlop is profit maximization rather than empowering users. Some businesses demonstrate partially non-corposlop characteristics, for instance, Apple, in terms of the values of privacy and being trend-setting. However, monopolistic behaviors impinge upon openness nonetheless. A Sovereign Web is concerned with the long-term desires of humans rather than short-term or immediate profits.

Digital sovereignty came to mean guarding privacy, avoiding manipulation, and acting based on values. These values are endangered by corposloip. The Sovereign Web reclaims agency and the ability to think long-term. “The message is clear,” says Jugaad Yatra’s Navdeep Vatsyayan: “Make tools for the empowerment of the user. Oppose corposlop. Believe in something higher than profit.

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