It’s common knowledge that the internet has changed the way humans use computers, as well as handheld computing devices like tablets and smartphones. The advent of wireless network technology removed geographic limitations, thereby inciting demand for the ability to access digital files from any device anywhere. Enter cloud storage.
Cloud storage gave users the ability to access their information from the networked device of their choosing, but that information is still locked away on private computers (and in private cloud accounts) from the rest of the “network”—i.e., the internet-enabled human community that craves authentic information that commercial websites do not deliver. In order to make this cloud-stored information accessible and searchable on the internet, cloud storage itself needs to become more social.
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Why what's in the cloud needs to be shared and shareable
Currently, websites are what’s available to be discovered by internet search. That’s it. These websites, by and large, are engineered to rank well in search engines so that users see what Company X (and its competitors) has to offer first so that Company X (and its competitors) has a better chance of getting users to discover their product or service. The commercial agenda of most websites out there — which is to be found — is no secret.
Although users do their best to work with and around a commercially driven internet, they want an alternative—pure, unadulterated information from sources they can trust. That’s exactly what is available in the cloud right now—a treasure trove of information created and collected by interest-based communities that extend beyond any user’s known contacts. By making cloud storage social, this treasure trove becomes public, searchable, and usable.
The benefits of cloud storage
The benefits of making cloud storage social and searchable are far-reaching, and include:
More information, more innovation - Unlocking what’s in the cloud instantly expands the amount of information and knowledge publicly available exponentially. Within that treasure trove is the answer to many questions and, more importantly, the inspiration to ask more and more novel questions, to seek solutions to existing challenges and predict and preempt future ones. In short, the expansion of our existing knowledge base drives innovation and the potential to improve the quality of human life.
Website-free content sharing - Making cloud storage searchable allows people to share content on the internet without creating a website. For instance, subject matter experts (like hobbyists) do not need to create an account, purchase a domain or transfer their content onto hypertext pages. Social Cloud Storage now provides them with a simpler way to share what they know with whomever wants to know it.
Greatness is discoverable from unlikely sources - The world is full of people with great thoughts and talents who do not have the desire to actively engage with the public, regardless of how appreciative that public could be of their content. However, that doesn’t mean these people aren’t creating valuable assets. Social cloud storage allows people who may be shy or introverted to share the perspectives, information, art, etc. they have created without having to put themselves on public display or face the prospect of rejection by a conventional publisher.
Perhaps the most significant benefit of social cloud storage, though, is the ability for users to assert more control over their search experience. The ability to search information made public without a commercial agenda gives users a way to bypass search engine algorithms’ built-in biases, and to correct for search bots’ misassumptions or miscalculations about the user’s search intent. In other words, social cloud storage allows users to effectively escape the “filter bubble” created by a search engine that confines results to those that conform with search history—i.e., past interests.
Social cloud storage is already here
Making cloud storage more social is not something that needs to happen – It’s something that is already happening. MrOwl is currently delivering the ability to unlock cloud storage and massively increase the amount of knowledge about virtually any topic available to the public, and is leading the next phase in the evolution of the internet to better serve human users.
Arvind Raichur, Founder and CEO of MrOwl
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