# Data storage/availability **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous\ **Created:** [June 17, 2023, 1:08pm UTC](https://forum.polkadot.network/t/data-storage-availability/3124 "2023-06-17T13:08:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 8
**Author:** ![rich](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forum.polkadot.network/rich/32/159_2.png) [@rich](https://forum.polkadot.network/u/rich)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 9:05am UTC](https://forum.polkadot.network/t/data-storage-availability/3124/8 "2023-06-20T09:05:14Z")
I responded originally to some of this here… > [@Rethinking the road to decentralisation](https://forum.polkadot.network/t/rethinking-the-road-to-decentralisation/3123/12): > > I completely agree with you that the current ‘crypto industry’ has failed to solve this problem, however this ‘issue’ begins with an important assumption data availability in the context of ‘decentralised social networks’ is a problem that blockchains are suitable to solve. I would counter, that they are fundamentally not. And that this really roots us deeper into the reasons for practically adoption in crypto to date - and that is the product is the token, not the service. Not everything ne… Will continue the thread here, as its a meaty one. > [@tomaka](#): > > I have nothing against you, but your post is completely off topic to me. > > Everybody agrees with what you say, but they are just empty words. The data storage problem is a very pragmatic problem that requires a very pragmatic answer. I think the opposite - this is exactly **on topic** once we start with the following assumption: > [@Rethinking the road to decentralisation](https://forum.polkadot.network/t/rethinking-the-road-to-decentralisation/3123/12): > > **data availability in the context of ‘decentralised social networks’ is a problem that blockchains are suitable to solve**. When you begin here, and stop trying to introduce unnessary tokens and blockchains and move towards vertical integration of an open-source operating system and hardware ecosystem, **dependent on actual revenue models** we will make progress. > [@Solara](#): > > The introduction of a device that engages the average user, is consumer-friendly, is easy to use, and seamlessly integrates with existing infrastructure would create a strong monetary incentive for users to participate in decentralized storage networks, enabling them to earn passive income through data storage activities (It’s a salt lamp that makes them money). > It provides individuals with a tangible and visible representation of their involvement in Web3 which further cements their commitment to the network. Decentralised social networking has been solved. Just not with tokens and blockchains. > [@Rethinking the road to decentralisation](https://forum.polkadot.network/t/rethinking-the-road-to-decentralisation/3123/12): > > “a decentralized, federated social network is flourishing which is built within a protocol that does not require blockchain, and does not convert every human interaction into a financial transaction. It focuses on communities and building useful, thoughtful, safe tools, instead of fetishizing buzzwords and pitching free speech absolutism in order to sell snake oil.” Sadly, when you begin with this core insight, the vast majority of the current ecosystem is effectively redundant - tokens as products, attempting to reverse their way into products and services. Sadly people aren’t economically incentivised to face up to that fact, because, guess what, they want NUMBER GO UP! This leads us inexorably into a weird dream state - a beautiful delusion, where large groups of people - founders, investors and contributors aka ‘communities’ convince themselves that they need a token, when they almost certainly don’t. I have nothing against the core desire for people wanting to better their situations, but the crypto-industry is for the largest part **a giant fraud** , a multi-level marketing scheme, committed against a naive new investment class - that uses the tools of the attention economy to market ‘Web3’. People continue to create a _better Web_ using the broken incentives of the attention economy to bootstrap their ~~products and services~~ tokens. This is not possible. > Crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Polkadot were created by visionaries who hoped to offer an escape from the crushing gravity of central banks, Wall Street and tech monopolies respectively. > Whilst each engineered solutions that advanced the capabilities of software to establish and transact value in peer to peer networks, their adoption and subsequent narratives were each co-opted and then dictated by a media ecosystem whose core incentives steadily usurped the revolutionary ideals of the founders. > **[Crypto, Web3 and narrative gravity — decent partners](https://decent.partners/direction/crypto-web3-and-narrative-gravity)** > > Introduction This is the first in a planned series of posts that sets context for and introduces a hopeful path towards the creation of Network Public Service Media , as a necessary and vital balancing force to the internet’s dominant media... --- _[View the full topic](https://forum.polkadot.network/t/data-storage-availability/3124)._