Many doubters have said "bitcoin is good for nothing" and doesn't provide any useful value. Well, here's a demonstration of useful value.
Those of you who know about American politics know the US Republican Primary season is in full swing. There is a candidate I support (Ron Paul), and there is a candidate I despise (Newt Gingrich).
It so happens that Ron Paul's campaign just put together an attack ad against Newt, slamming him for his hypocrisy. The ad is a bit too "propaganda" for my liking, but the message is true. So, I'm going to spread this video out to over 100,000 people via Twitter. Some portion of them will forward it to their friends, etc. But how will I do this? I'm just some dude up against the political and media elite of the world.
I can do this quick, cheap, and easily with Bitcoin.
Step 1) I use FeedZeBirds.com to create a campaign - this takes 30 seconds as I just sign in with my twitter account. No ID verification. No bank account. No lengthy forms of any kind. All made irrelevant by Bitcoin.
Step 2) I seed the campaign (I've chosen to send 2 btc). Money is approved after 6 confirmations - so an hour after the idea crosses my mind, the campaign is live.
Step 3) There isn't even a step 3
The campaign message is now available for Twitter users around the world to propagate my propaganda. and quickly toss There is a public donation address on the campaign so people who ALSO support the idea can toss in a coin and keep it going. Many of the people who tweet the message will have it appear in Facebook, making it even more viral as those who support the cause can click the link and contribute - earning bitcoins themselves by retweeting or adding bitcoins to the fund.
See the campaign here:
http://www.feedzebirds.com/a823Donate funds here: 12cy9BBaLsjCoVT8GeVxhZdUi4r9dJ6JyX
Feel free to retweet it yourself if you're a Ron Paul fan, you'll earn .08 btc for every thousand follower you have, paid instantly (again, no forms to fill out, to waiting, no bank accounts, no ID info.)
The efficiency and smoothness afforded by Bitcoin is utterly revolutionary. This is just one small example of the new things Bitcoin allows in media and marketing. Imagine any PR, advertising, or charity campaign using this mechanism to distribute their message worldwide with almost zero barrier to entry. Imagine a Twitter campaign like this for the Japan relief efforts, or the Haiti earthquake fund after the destruction hit. How does a concerned man in Taiwan donate to a Haitian quickly and easily? Bitcoin changes everything.
UPDATE Dec 4: 77 Tweets
35,152 Beaks Fed
68,955 Beaks Remaining (funds available)