The Open Index Protocol Aims to Decentralize Media

As co-founder of the Open Index Protocol, James entered the world of blockchain when she realized it was impossible to control or even find content.

"Right now it's really hard to make a living. It's really hard to keep track of your stuff. And so I felt really unstable about building a media business that way."

Ultimately, James sees the future of content as a decentralized system free of major gatekeepers like YouTube and Twitter.

"And so what we're talking about is how this decentralized future is going to make it so that we own our data again, that we own our content that we're putting into the world and that that's just really clear and transparent."

James' project creates "a decentralized and transparent index for digital content and protected file persistence." According to James, it's working.

First, the organization created a partnership with the state of Wyoming and Overstock's Medici Land Governance blockchain to decentralize property records.

The team also created a video series called What Kind of Internet Do You Want? to describe the features of decentralized media.

Ultimately, James sees the decentralized future as a solution to many problems in the media.

The key, said James, is making the decentralized tools as easy to use as Medium.

"How do we bridge this decentralized future that we all dream of with the world of platforms that are so convenient and so easy to use and have so many tools and features?" she said.