🏴What Is A Network State

Overview

New currencies, including cryptocurrencies, have been created. But until now, there was no easy way to create new societies, nations, and states.

The Network State is an emerging concept; consider it a new form of civilization.

Balaji Srinivasan offered an initial definition:

A Network State beings with a startup society that organizes to become a Network Union, which is “a highly aligned online community with a capacity for collective action.” A Network Union becomes a Network State when “it crowdfunds territory worldwide and eventually gain diplomatic recognition from pre-existing States.”

For a deeper understanding, we suggest the Network State Wiki, the original reference book by Balaji, The Network State, and the commentary by Jur Founder Alessandro Palombo, the Network State Revolution.

• 0-network: an aspirational social network startup with no users

• 1-network: a coherent community

• N-network: a massive global network of networks

A 1-network is the basis for a network state, something like a focused subreddit, a moderated Facebook group, a PHP BB forum, a large Telegram channel, or the following of a single Twitter influencer. Of course, not all subreddits would be 1-networks, but r/keto with its intense dietary culture is much closer than a global forum like r/worldnews. A 1-network typically has some basic form of moderation (a moderator can ban you, an influencer can block you), some community norms, and mechanisms for enforcement. It doesn’t have all the criteria of a nation — the shared language, customs, history, and culture — but it’s like a proto-nation.

The following of a single large YouTube or Twitter influencer is probably the best kind of 1-network out there, in the sense of a proto-nation for a network state, because it has shared context and history, as well as a leader who can act as a dispute resolver.