1-essay summary

The internet we use isn't truly a public service; it's privately owned by a few large companies. Consequently, our conversations, values, governments, and most importantly, our attention, are controlled by these companies.

Journalists call this phenomenon "Stolen Focus." This theft is performed through algorithmic content feeds that have stopped respecting users' intentional searches and subscriptions, instead prioritizing content that addicts them.

For creators, the situation is even worse. They've spent countless hours creating all the content we see, but companies like Facebook and TikTok have not even shared 1% of the revenue with them and now removing the creators completely out of the loop with AI generated content.

The internet was meant to be an open platform for anyone to share and consume information freely. However, it has turned into a tool for these companies to capture our attention and enslave content creators. How did this happen?

The big internet companies command this leverage because of an original sin in the architecture of the internet: The foundational protocols of the open web, such as HTTP and email, were stateless. This means they transmit information without storing any records. For example, while an email protocol can send a message, it does not store the message itself.

Why were these protocols designed this way? Because storing information requires servers, which costs money to run. When the internet was created, there was no concept of internet-native money to fund these servers.

In the absence of protocols capable of recording information, companies stepped in to maintain these records. For example, Gmail started storing emails, and Instagram started storing photos. But these companies needed a way to cover their costs too, and since internet-native money didn't exist back then, they turned to advertising.

We unknowingly made a deal with these companies: we would give them our information and content in exchange for access to their vast databases and occasional ads. This seemed fair because TV had way more ads. Web2 was born, and everyone was happy!

However, these companies were bound by their legal obligation to maximize profits for shareholders. This led to an attention capture cycle where viewers became addicts, creators were left unpaid, and a few companies amassed more value than all others in the US combined.

What began as a technical limitation in the foundational internet protocols has led to a society where our attention is controlled by a few companies.

Today, we have the tools to do better. Blockchain technologies like Bitcoin have shown that protocols can maintain records by taking small payments to cover server costs. This makes it possible to create new internet protocols that not only transmit but also record information.

If instead of companies, we had blockchains that could record all of the world's content, we could break the monopoly of content that these companies have, and we could directly filter out the information we want to see from the blockchain.

Users would not be limited to just five social media apps but could choose from thousands of apps that all filter the blockchain for a specific audience. Individuals and communities would finally get the choice of what information they want to consume, and misinformation would not be forced down our eyeballs.

A blockchain for content would also ensure property rights for creators, meaning they would own both their content and their follower graph, helping them get fairly compensated for their work and establishing a direct relationship with their audience.

However, existing blockchain technologies are mostly limited to finance, which just stores small numbers compared to the text, photos, and videos on social media. The cost of storing a simple 200-character tweet on existing blockchains like Ethereum costs more than $50, while even on newer blockchains like Solana, it costs about $0.25. This makes the creation of social media applications on existing blockchains financially infeasible.

We need a new generation of blockchains capable of storing and indexing vast amounts of data that can create new information protocols that not only transmit data but also store it.

Simply put, we need A New Internet.

In this compilation of essays, we explore the history and necessity of A New Internet and a new generation of blockchains, which are current best implementations of such an internet.

We also evaluate this new internet’s impact on our economy, society, and ourselves.