We are all users of the world’s greatest addiction machine: social media. We’re so addicted that we just called you a user and you didn’t blink. My fellow addicts, these products are powered by a continually adapting algorithm that is shaping our personal and world views, regardless of how we individually use it. If they can so bluntly call us users, let’s call them what they are: the Corporations Harvesting Attention On Social Media, the C.H.A.O.S. Cartel. We passively allow this $500 Billion C.H.A.O.S. Cartel to harvest and sell our attention for profit. Yeah, we are the product. They’re selling us.

“So, how do you sustain a business model in which users don’t pay for your service?” Senator Orrin Hatch
“Senator, we run ads, ” Mark Zuckerberg
“I see, that’s great. ” Senator Orrin Hatch

That is our attention.
Not theirs.
That is our money.
Not theirs.

Without our attention, they have nothing. Only with a “sly, roundabout way” can we escape the terror of this Cartel without falling into another trap. But are you too addicted? Do you even want to escape? Aren’t you sick of it? Aren’t you sick of the ads, the algorithm, and the attention harvesting? Are you sick of it enough to try something new? What if we paid you? What if we paid you to leave? Would you use an app that let’s advertisers pay you directly for your attention, cutting out the Cartel?

If we build it, will you come?

NextBlock is building the first and only social media app with an open and transparent attention marketplace where advertisers pay you to view their ads if - and only if - you choose to. No one can harvest your attention against your will. On NextBlock, you are not a user to be sold, you are a citizen with rights. Our time and resources will always be put towards the development of the best social media experience for our citizens. We are not building an attention harvesting, addiction machine. We are building an attention marketplace with a transparent and honest business model to fund that work.

Attention has become a commodity and The C.H.A.O.S. Cartel’s ability to centralize and manipulate this marketplace relies on maintaining control over the following systems:

1. Closed proprietary data layer.

2. Closed proprietary identity providers.

3. Closed proprietary payment mechanism.

4. Closed proprietary platform(s) and algorithms to display content and ads.

But with new technology, comes new opportunities. Using Bitcoin and Nostr, NextBlock will decentralize this marketplace.

To build a decentralized, marketplace for attention, we need:

1. Open non-proprietary data layer.

2. Open non-proprietary interoperable identities.

3. Open non-proprietary payment mechanism.

4. Open source platform, with no algorithm, to view content and ads.

But, getting paid for your attention isn’t the only improvement we need to make to the social media experience. NextBlock will not censor, ban, or restrict any citizen from the platform regardless of activity. Not because of our morals, ethics, or ethos, but because we can’t. NextBlock is built on the NOSTR protocol, which means you as a citizen control your own digital identity and where your data is stored. In layman's terms, NextBlock is simply a browser for your social media. Citizens can take their identity, which includes activity and followers, from one NOSTR app to another, of which there are many. Wake up one day sick of NextBlock? You can leave without having to build a new identity on another app. This will be NextBlock’s incentive to always prioritize the citizens’ experience, and not the advertisers.

But how do we ensure content creators have the incentive to always prioritize the citizen’s experience? The citizens pay them directly. Forget likes. Comments & Zaps are the way.

NextBlock is powered by the people. With tools to design your own social media experience, we will bring transparency to how we all benefit from the attention marketplace.

But why stop there! Let’s improve the ad viewing experience. NextBlock will only, and always, show citizens an ad when a new Bitcoin block is mined. On average, every ten minutes. The Ad Block frequency will be too tempting to crank up in the future, so we are intentionally limitingourselves to an outside entity to regulate us. The Bitcoin protocol. Don’t trust, verify. And we ever break this promise, you are free to leave and take all your data to another NOSTR powered app.

Digital sovereignty is achievable, and NextBlock sees a future where every citizen can run theirown private social media server. NextBlock will provide the interface for your data and allow you to earn some Bitcoin from it, if you want. This will all take time and money. We need a business model that gives us both without being exploitative. Building the Attention marketplace is the only way to build that future without charging or exploiting “users”.

So, in short, the master plan is:

1. Create an app that activates the Attention Marketplace enabling users to pool, price and sell their attention to advertisers.

2. Use that money to build better tools and improve social media user experience to incentivize even more users to join. Thus creating a bigger pool of attention, attracting even more advertisers.

3. Use that money to build custom hardware enabling users, for the first time, to actually own their social media history.

4. While doing the above, provide continuous funding support to projects like OpenSats to further Bitcoin and NOSTR development and adoption while increasing social media literacy.

Learn more at joinnextblock.com Let’s Discover How Much Our Attention is Worth Together