Social Impact through Social Influence
How three ethical entrepreneurs pioneered wealth creation with tokenized social engagement
Technological innovation is responsible for the most profound changes to society, from cars to computers, mobiles to medicine. In the realm of social interaction we’ve altered how we date, get jobs, and share our life stories. The internet has opened the world to us, enabling us to learn about other cultures, connect with people from all walks of life, and maintain relationships with those we love.
On the flip side, a vast portion of our technological innovation serves much less lofty ideals. When applied to social media, the sharing of our lives, our special moments, our fears, hopes and insecurities- have become a commodity over which we have little control. Once shared, our moments no longer belong to us. We provide value, and we do it for free.
When JET8 founders Victor Zabrockis, Josh Thomson and Mike Allen joined forces in 2013, they had one vision: To create a means of rewarding everyday users for their social media engagement and sharing of data, and make the technology available to anyone, anywhere.
Having grown up globally, Víctor in Brazil, Josh in the Philippines and Mike in South Africa- they connected with the buzz and excitement of developing markets. Based on this, and their professional experiences in Southeast Asia, the team recognised the potential of social media to address the economic challenges faced by much of the population, whose average income came in at less than $5 per day.
“To be able to design and deliver tangible value and benefits from a user’s social engagement and data has always been a driving force for us at JET8. The bedrock of a social network’s value is user data, so why shouldn’t the user also capitalize on this? We looked at existing behaviour and activities, and found a way to enable users to earn and redeem products through social engagement.” — Joshua Thomson, CSO.
The term ‘ethical pioneers’, comes to mind when looking at what JET8 went on to achieve over the following 4 years. By addressing the issues of content and data ownership, user remuneration and transparent and reciprocal relationships (JET8 apps inform users of their rights and choices in posting every step of the way) managed to create a business model that solves a social problem and also excels as for-profit enterprise.
This is a technology inherently built for the purpose of providing positive social impact, by recognising selfies as creative content, rewarding creators for this content, and providing retail connectivity for them to redeem their earnings both online and IRL. The JET8 system tracks engagement and rewards users for every like, comment and share resulting from their selfies, taken with JET8 apps and shared onto to various other platforms. The system is decentralized to allow for maximum reach, increasing users earning potential (users can earn on average $2 per day) and their ability to become influencers in their own right.
With the creation of new technologies such as their Full Stack App, JET8 takes the idea of interdependent but interconnected communities even further. With the same remunerative and reciprocal functions as their other apps, the FSA is available to anyone who wants to host their own unique community. These bespoke apps still reach all the existing social networks, but you retain ownership of content and are able to directly engage with your own niche communities- solving yet another digital/social issue, that of over-saturation.
By turning “selfies into sales” with their original digital token fuelled ecosystem, JET8 has set a precedence for social media engagement. Whereby most platforms ‘use their users’ to fuel growth and adoption, JET8 invented a way to decentralize, democratize, remunerate, and empower.
Come 2018, and JET8 is boasting 1.5 million app installs and a reach of just under 400 million social accounts from its lead app Fotoku, and retail connectivity to 20,000 convenience stores (including 7Eleven and Alfamart), at which users can purchase anything from toilet paper to face cream.
With the system proven and the technology sound, JET8 is now scaling for global accessibility and opening up the ecosystem, with the launch of the J8T token. With this ICO, JET8 is taking their innovative social engagement technology to the next stage of development, utilizing blockchain technology consonant with their own existing systems. For instance, the use of smart contracts reinforces trust levels, whilst the removal of the middleman aids further decentralization. JET8 is built upon social currency- the valued and trusted relationships of peer to peer engagement, making the immutability of the blockchain, a natural fit.
In the wake of the ICO JET8 will expand with increased adoption and accessibility, providing the technology to empower and reward everyday users, influencers and brands globally. However it’s the development of the ecosystem into an open marketplace- encouraging and enabling app creators, creative asset designers, content creators, big brands, small brands, and NGO’s- to create their own communities, offer products and services- that provides the impressive continuation of their social impact goals.
“With the J8T token so much more can be done to enable other, smaller brands such as NGOs, Mom and Pop business, causes, and individuals- to earn incomes. With the token there will be so many more options for use, including donating, sharing, paying for bills, paying for services, the possibilities are endless. As adoption and usage grows we can see truly exciting times ahead!” — Josh Thomson, CSO
Building a scalable business that simultaneously contributes to society thwarts even the most successful of entrepreneurs. With the J8T token JET8 has found a solution to continued development, expansion, and commitment to their vision of democratizing influence, as the ICO provides freedom from traditional stakeholder obligations and restrictions, whilst it supports the decentralized nature of the JET8 model.
In an environment of conscious consumers and expectations of corporate transparency, token efforts or superficial marketing claims of positive social or environmental impact no longer pass muster. With a tool specifically built for the purpose of inculcating trust, transparency, reciprocal and rewarded relationships, JET8 has positioned itself for relevance in the world of tomorrow, as well as today.
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