Hello Medium: What is Partiko?
Hello everyone,
Today we’re thrilled to finally start our presence on Medium. In this post we will be focusing on introducing ourselves and our mission.
Partiko is a decentralized social media platform whose mission is to empower content creators and to provide consumers with high-quality content. To do this, we use cryptocurrency. Before you tune out because you’ve heard enough about the disruptive potential of cryptocurrency, allow us to illustrate the need for a decentralized, crypto-infused social media platform by looking at a site that you’ve probably visited several times in the last week: YouTube.
In 2015, major brands began pulling ads from YouTube because they were being played before inappropriate content (e.g. violence, hate speech). To prevent the monetization of videos that did not fit their community guidelines, YouTube made changes to its content sorting algorithm. These changes have caused and continue to cause problems for content creators on the platform (known has YouTubers), whose videos are unfairly demonetized despite adhering to YouTube’s community standards.
When YouTube’s algorithm incorrectly flags a video, the video creator can choose to appeal its demonetization. However, even if, after a manual review, the video is deemed appropriate and monetized, the lost adsense cannot be recovered. This is because a formerly demonetized video can only make money on views after its monetization (by playing ads). Since the manual review process can take several weeks and a video receives most of its views when it is first uploaded, the video creator misses out on the majority of their compensation despite having done nothing wrong. This is unacceptable, especially since YouTubers often rely on adsense to provide for themselves and their families.
As a result of their frustrations, some YouTubers have left the platform for rival video-sharing sites (like Twitch) and have resorted to using other methods (like Patreon) to raise money from their supporters. However, the majority of YouTubers, despite struggling with demonetization problems, have chosen to remain on the platform. This is because YouTube is by far the most popular video-sharing site and leaving the platform jeopardizes YouTubers’ ability to retain the audience that they have oftentimes spent years building.
YouTube’s “war” with its creators is detailed in this fantastic article by Julia Alexander at Polygon if you would like to read more.
When you think about it, what else could YouTubers do besides leave the platform or endure their mistreatment? After all, it’s not like they have any control over how the platform is run. Google, YouTube’s parent company, holds all the power.
The YouTube demonetization problem is inevitable given the current landscape of the Internet. Traditional social media platforms extract value from their users and profit off of advertising revenue; they do not fairly compensate those who produce the content that brings value to their sites in the first place. This is because they don’t have to: Why would Twitter and Facebook choose to spend money paying users for content? Billions of people provide this content for free and accept that they are shown targeted advertisements in return. The end result is that content creators and curators are exploited, doing most of the work and receiving little to none of the rewards.
What’s revolutionary about a blockchain-based social media platform that rewards its users with cryptocurrency is that it offers an unprecedented reversal of the Internet’s current power dynamic.
The decentralized social media platform Partiko rewards those who contribute to their site with a cryptocurrency called Steem. Steem can be exchanged for fiat currencies (like U.S. dollars) or for other cryptocurrencies (like Bitcoin). Steem tokens are distributed to users based on their level of interaction with the platform’s community; users are financially compensated both for creating and curating content. Partiko does not overlook its users’ hard work and understands that it is their contributions that bring value to the platform.
Additionally, a blockchain-based social media platform does not rely on algorithms to determine whether content is suitable for its viewers; instead, it allows the community itself to decide. Rather than having a central authority (e.g. YouTube) telling content creators and consumers what is and is not “appropriate” content through establishing community guidelines, Partiko allows its users to determine their own standards in a decentralized way. This prevents content from being wrongfully demonetized.
We believe that cryptocurrency can revolutionize the way we interact with the creation and curation of media. We want to create a community where all users are rewarded for their contributions, whether that be in the form of sharing their passion for a topic by writing an article or upvoting content that they enjoy. Partiko’s team is focused on listening to our users, so that we can fulfill the promise of the Internet: giving everyone the tools to connect and thrive in one big, diverse community.
Onwards and upwards,
Partiko team
