> Second, I think people will start to put a premium on accounts being "verified" as genuinely human.
IMO this is long overdue. And I think people should/will eventually even pay for this feature.
> Powerful nation states will be more than eager to assist them in this regard.
I agree - world governments could consider even subsidizing this in some way in order to foster fewer anonymous botnets sowing discord. The web of trust could be useful to help bolster this - if only in providing the process by which new social networks could eliminate anonymity.
I hear a lot about SSI [1] from a family member who works on this stuff. I'll be honest - I don't know whether it's promising or dystopian. Maybe a little bit of each. But I optimistically think it could be a way to help mitigate some of the problems created by anonymity.
The loss of anonymity won't be a panacea -- for example: people with legitimate accounts bound to their identity today accept bribes to create positive reviews of goods. And the loss of anonymity comes with significant drawbacks: criticizing government and powerful people becomes more difficult.
Having a digital reputation that you can taint could put people on their best behavior. But then again it's a bit dystopian [2, 3].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-sovereign_identity
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosedive_(Black_Mirror)
IMO this is long overdue. And I think people should/will eventually even pay for this feature.
> Powerful nation states will be more than eager to assist them in this regard.
I agree - world governments could consider even subsidizing this in some way in order to foster fewer anonymous botnets sowing discord. The web of trust could be useful to help bolster this - if only in providing the process by which new social networks could eliminate anonymity.
I hear a lot about SSI [1] from a family member who works on this stuff. I'll be honest - I don't know whether it's promising or dystopian. Maybe a little bit of each. But I optimistically think it could be a way to help mitigate some of the problems created by anonymity.
The loss of anonymity won't be a panacea -- for example: people with legitimate accounts bound to their identity today accept bribes to create positive reviews of goods. And the loss of anonymity comes with significant drawbacks: criticizing government and powerful people becomes more difficult.
Having a digital reputation that you can taint could put people on their best behavior. But then again it's a bit dystopian [2, 3].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-sovereign_identity
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosedive_(Black_Mirror)