So I’m glad I had this discussion, but I definitely need to reevaluate the assumptions that got me here 🙂

@makeworld @akkartik @clacke

This is super helpful thank you! “Blockchain doesn’t just mean a chain of blocks” perfectly captures my misunderstanding.

A more frazzled version of my initial post would have read “what is the fediverse!? I’m seeing different definitions that seem to span from SSB to Mastadon to wealth transfer schemes.” Reflecting on it that way highlights that even my question conflates the platforms impact with the technical details.

@clacke
@makeworld
@akkartik

Is there a category for platforms like https://scuttlebutt.nz and maybe https://tezos.xyz that use blockchains but are not selling snake oil and/or devastating the climate? It’s too late to use “web3” I think. Maybe mastodon fits in this list too, but it feels more semi-centralized than decentralized.

@akkartik In my mind “blockchain” == “cryptographically signed linked list as a means for storage”. Is that off? (It’s probably off. I’m _just_ diving into this world and trying to figure out the categories.)