######hosted at stdio.io

##stdio is an experiment

We wanted to create a sustainable platform for text content. So we tried two things: we made our content creators our owners and we told them: if they wanted to keep it, they just had to sustain it.

The idea is very simple: the users own stdio and the sustenance of the website falls on those who find value in it. The owners (read: users) control the bearing of the ship with a quarterly vote. Ownership and elections are secured by the Bitcoin Blockchain using the Counterparty Protocol.

##how does it work?

Sign up here and see for yourself.

Content is text. Post any text you want. As other users comment on and "upvote" (thanks reddit) your content, you get *kismet*. KSMT is a secure token, a title to ownership of stdio and a vote in every quarterly election. As an owner of KSMT you now hold the fate of stdio in your hands- treat your new property with care.

As a holder of kismet and stdio owner, you now have access to the stdio boardroom. Here you can see the operating budget, a breakdown of the other owners, the treasury, and the scheduled shareholder voting sessions. This is how every user can influence the site's policies and operating procedures.

##why the experiment?

The internet is in the midst of a consumer identity crisis: the consumer has yet to figure out a smooth way to pay for content. stdio presents a clean platform, free from advertising and wall-street money. Create anything, no outside pressure.

We think our experiment has the chance to succeed where others have failed due to recent leaps in digital economics. Micro-transactions make crowdfunding more efficient while blockchain-based digital ownership brings a flood of new management possibilities. All the while, rapid investment in cloud computing means every day, server space is the cheapest it has ever been.

Vast communities of users can run a platform for pennies per year. That price is the highest it will ever be today. Even better, users can influence the platform's course through cryptographically-secured elections, backed by the largest computational force on Earth: the Bitcoin blockchain.

##why Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is the next generation financial tool that makes stdio work. Our financial transparency is made possible by Bitcoin's open ledger, while our crowd-sourced revenue model relies on digital money's micro-transact-ability. Our mass ownership title system and shareholder voting system run on Counterparty's Bitcoin 2.0 technology.

##its all yours

Now go- create, consume. Be an artist and a journalist and a reader. Share everything you want with whoever you want. But remember: stdio is yours. Raise it with care and sustain it as long as it brings you value. But don't forget, it's just a website. One day, when it becomes too... much: let it die.