How Web3 Can Fix Social Networks
Over the past few years, censorship has grown to become a heated topic of debate. Some people are strong advocates of censorship as it can reduce hate speech, while others despise censorship and see it as an enemy to free speech. In this context, Decentralized social media (DeSoc) may just offer a way to stay censorship-resistant, while also catering to different worldviews.
What is DeSoc?
In centralized traditional social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, your data is owned and controlled by the company. Subsocial, a platform built for decentralized social networks and marketplaces, says that this centralized structure subjects those social networks to “global censorship, a lack of customizations, unfair monetization, algorithm dictatorship, and a monopoly on network effects.” This hurts consumers and creators alike because of the minimal control they have. A YouTuber whose well-being depends on advertising revenue could be doing enough one day and not enough the next because of an unclear and unannounced change in the algorithm.
Decentralized social media leverages blockchain technology to create open platforms that run through thousands of nodes around the world. This system allows the platforms to survive concentrated failures and outages like what happened to Facebook. DeSoc platforms can also utilize decentralized storage systems like the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), which further protects user data. Another benefit that comes with being open source is how anyone can inspect the source code, with all the relevant information including monetization rate being readily available. This creates a system of checks and balances that ensures both the users and platform creators have their interests aligned.
Censorship v.s. Moderation
Instead of going towards the complete opposite end of the spectrum with zero censorship, most DeSoc platforms opt to be censorship-resistant and rely on content moderation.
Taking the Subsocial example again, a post can be moderated at three levels. The first is at the sub-community level like a Facebook group, where the owners can do whatever they want with those posts. The second level is on IPFS since those nodes are what host the content. The node operators can choose to not host certain content. The final level is at the front end, where the operators can control what they want to show.
The difference between this structure and how Facebook and other mainstream social media platforms work is that the platform has the final say over every decision. There could be a subcommunity within the platform with its own moderation rules and private content, but all of that can be overridden by the platform at any moment.
This decentralized mode allows users to create their own subcommunities, hosts their own IPFS node, and runs their own front end, all without the aforementioned restrictions.
New Monetization Opportunities
Aside from offering a decentralized solution, Web3 also unlocks a wide variety of monetization opportunities that creators and users can take advantage of via non-fungible tokens (NFTs), crypto subscriptions, and more.
Many of these platforms can launch a native token to power their economy instead of relying on advertising revenue and sharing data. Depending on the platform, the token can be used in ways such as to purchase additional features, reward creators, incentivize user participation, and facilitate governance. Token holders can make proposals and vote to decide on the future of the platform.
Examples of Decentralized Social Media Platforms
CrowdPad, an IVC portfolio company, allows creators to easily create their own DAO. They are able to launch their own tokens and set up different membership tiers with varied access to exclusive benefits. A lot of traditional social media platforms only cater to top creators. Some creators are only allowed to monetize after they break a certain subscriber count. CrowdPad appeals to the everyday creator and democratizes this decentralized format.
Mirror markets itself as a decentralized Web 3 publishing platform. The posts are stored on Arweave and can be minted as Writing NFTs. NFTs let you show support for an idea or capture a certain moment like being one of the first readers of a whitepaper. Mirror is also DAO-native, with features including co-authorship designed for DAOs and multisigs.
Minds is another open-source social network that lets you “speak freely, protect your privacy, earn crypto rewards, and take back control of your social media.” They currently have over six million members. Minds use their native token $MINDS, which people gain by creating popular content, referring friends, or providing liquidity. The token can also be used to boost your own content and tip other people.
Conclusion
The mainstream social media platforms today are trending toward increasing censorship and lack of transparency. This brings forward a need for an economy that is built for creators that also rewards consumers. DeSoc gives creators the power and ownership to make content that stays true to both themselves and their audience. They no longer have to appeal to and censor themselves for an overarching company and its algorithms.
From a community-driven ecosystem to a censorship-resistant environment, decentralized social media opens the entertainment and communication fields up to possibilities that would otherwise have never been possible.
