Mirror.xyz: A Decentralized Writing Platform
There has been significant growth of content creation over the past several years, and the platforms that publish said content are starting to face stiff competition. According to InsightSLICE, by 2030, the global digital content creation market is projected to reach $38.2 billion. There is clear value for platforms that enable users to publish and distribute content online.
Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, reflected on the challenges of running a social media platform:
“The reason I have so much passion for #Bitcoin is largely because of the model it demonstrates: a foundational internet technology that is not controlled or influenced by any single individual or entity. This is what the internet wants to be, and over time, more of it will be.”
Writing on the internet is no easy feat. Your content can be deleted or moderated, you can be banned from a platform, there’s low quality content that exploits readers, and there’s misinformation and conspiracies. Writers also experience limited monetization options and often have their content stolen. This is where Mirror.xyz comes into play.
Mirror.xyz is the first decentralized writing platform for writers, and their mission is to be “the next big change in the long history of symbolic communication. Through a decentralized, user-owned, crypto-based network, Mirror’s publishing platform revolutionizes the way we express, share and monetize our thoughts.” When you start writing on Mirror, you become a co-owner of the platform — it is run and built by its contributors.
Before digging further into Mirror, let’s first understand Medium, which is the gold standard platform for blogging on the internet. Anybody can post on Medium, from amateurs to professionals, and publishing is free. However, earning money is limited to the Partner Program. Despite having well over 100 million visitors per month, it remains difficult for writers to earn money on the site. From the company’s perspective, readers pay $5 per month for unlimited access to articles. From the creator’s perspective, to start, most writers should only expect around $25 per month. However, the very best contributors can earn anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 per month on Medium. The platform also provides monthly bonuses, so contributors are constantly trying to pump out more content and increase their follower counts.
I like to think of Mirror as the web3 version of Medium. At first glance, Mirror appears very similar to Medium, as both platforms enable users to creatively write and share blogging content. A key difference is that Mirror leverages cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies to provide unique tools to its writers. Created by Denis Nazarov (former Andreessen Horowitz crypto partner) in 2020, Mirror is a decentralized writing platform developed to help creators connect with their target audiences in a more direct and innovative way.
Similar to gm.xyz, Mirror is built on crypto rails and places the creators at the center of the business model. This allows writers to earn immediately and directly in cryptocurrency and ensures that they are the ones profiting from the content they generate. Getting paid directly helps creators avoid companies like PayPal that charge 4–5% for allowing you to get paid as a writer. As Chris Dixon puts it, web2 is all about read and write, whereas web3 is about read, write, and own. Mirror attempts to democratize revenue streams for creators and provides them with the opportunity to own their work.
When users join the Mirror platform with their crypto wallet, they can:
- Receive tips from readers.
- Turn their publication into an NFT. Creators can sell the NFT at an auction to readers who want to invest in their thoughts, or they can sell their story to a publication. Also, every time the NFT is sold, the creator is able to earn royalties on the sale.
- Launch a crowdfund. Users can crowdfund an idea and readers can offer them money/crypto to write it. After the story is published, the readers get a portion of the story’s profits. Already, over 8000 ETH has been raised with over 6600 crowdfund backers.
- Split up proceeds with collaborators. Creators can co-write a story with a friend and split the proceeds 50/50, or you can add a charitable split to your story, sending 30% to a cause that you care about. All of the revenue split details are transparent on each story.
- Distribute tokens within their community. Creators can mint an ERC20 token and distribute it to their community.
- Embed their NFTs and link them to popular marketplaces (e.g. OpenSea, SuperRare). More eyes on the story, more eyes on the NFTs.
- The ability to make money from ads or charge a subscription is on the roadmap.
Mirror plans to be the essential web3 toolkit for sharing and funding anything. Mirror allows creators to take ownership of their work and generate earnings via funding, royalties, and tips, and it offers several tools to help build community as well.
Will the recent excitement around NFTs, blockchain and web3 drive creators and users to Mirror.xyz? Or will it be another social platform that fizzles out? It remains to be seen if there will be mass adoption of new solutions like this, but it is important for all content creators to understand the platforms that best allow them to own and monetize their work.
Perhaps we should start posting to Mirror.xyz in our #CBSDigitalLiteracy class…
