For almost two years our beloved Steem blockchain powers an increasingly growing decentralised social network: Steemit. Those two years, Steemit was having - more or less - a monopoly position. Sure, we've seen other new(er) generation social networks come to life, like the general purpose Sola, Nexus, and onG networks, as well as the more media tailored networks like Musicoin (music), Aurovine (music), LBRY (video), Viuw.ly (video); But Steemit was continuously alone at the top in terms of number of users, number of published content, and number of transactions on the blockchain. Last week the landscape for Steemit and all decentralised social networks changed with the launch of the newest of the newest social network **ONO Social** or simply **ONO**. More than 50k users in a few days and growing fast. After reading some posts here at Steemit and at other media channels; A trigger by a good friend; I started reading the ONO whitepaper. The claims made about ONO sounded super positive to me and I needed proof for those claims. ![](https://s18.postimg.cc/d1raiogl5/180423_ono_a_star_is_born.png) ^{_{image: copyright ono logo by Ono.Chat ([source](https://www.ono.chat/))}} For the sake of not eating all of your free time reading through an essay length article, I'll summarise the - to myself - most important aspects of ONO, the aspects that can make a difference in decentralised social networks. # Services Ecosystem
A complete services ecosystem is created including but not limited to: - ID verification system with more transparent ID verification when importance/influence level of individuals increases - Chat/Messaging system (end-2-end encrypted, like WhatsApp, Telegram private mode) - Encrypted data storage with well know permission settings - Complete tool set for content consumers incl like/dislike, tip/reward, bookmark, share, reply features - App store to allow developers to publish their Apps to the community # Governance
Decentralisation and freedom doesn't mean the right to abuse others and the system itself. Roles are defined to not only help the community, but also to safeguard the community from bad actors. This is a huge important aspect in my opinion, since where money is involved, bad actors are attracted and we all know what happens when bad actors have an open playing field and all their freedom! Part of the Governance is the introduction of absolute transparency for important community roles like those who are tasked to fight abusive behaviour and bad actors. # Referendum system
The referendum system is an absolute **super important and even crucial** 'feature' therefore I didn't list it under Services Ecosystem or Governance since it deserves more than just one of the features. It is **THE** tool to allow true democracy. It is **THE** tool to allow for joint decision making. It is **THE** tool to allow for joint creation of the community culture. The referendum system can be used in many situations, from determining development items, to rewarding of roles, and solving disputes between users and even more importantly, between those identifying abuse and those who are categorised as being abusive. # End Note
With what I read about ONO, in their whitepaper, I feel being heard. Yes, I do know my voice most likely didn't travel all the way to China where ONO is created, but ONO incorporates some very important aspects to try and keep a community - more or less - good and functioning. Two articles I published to the Steem blockchain I like to bring to your attention talking about a topic I find absolute important and with ONO I see it actually implemented. _{[Create a COMMITTEE with STRONG ARM to Support Creation of a GREAT STEEMIT CULTURE](https://steemit.com/steemitculture/@edje/proposal-join-forces-to-create-a-great-steemit-culture)
[Referendums - People's Participation is the Essence of Good Governance!](https://steemit.com/growth-ideas/@edje/proposal-community-wide-voting-referendums-people-s-participation-is-the-essence-of-good-governance)} # Want to Know More? _{[ONO whitepaper](https://medium.com/@ONOsocial/ono-white-paper-e33102d3aad5)} # NJOY ^{_{you like music? check [@qsounds](https://steemit.com/@qsounds)}}