Myriad Social for tech dummies
Introduction
Myriad Social is a social media platform like any other, where you can share your thoughts and contents, except that it runs on Web3, with distributed networks and blockchains instead of on a central server. This is what makes it different from Facebook, Instagram (the two of them are currently managed under the parent company Meta), Twitter, Reddit and YouTube.
Chances are, you are one of the 4.62 billion social media users around the world and that you are using one of the platforms mentioned above. Now, if you have already been using these platforms for a long time, why on Earth should you consider switching to a new, decentralized platform like Myriad Social?
Maybe you have already read news items about how these “mainstream” social media platforms have created controversies for having sold users’ private data to third parties (including repressive governments) without the former’s consent. At the same time, these platforms have engaged in censorship and other practices which can imperil users’ freedom of speech and expression.
At the same time, these platforms have also siphoned off a huge percentage of royalties from the content creators, leaving these creators practically nothing in the end.
So, if you want more freedom and data sovereignty as a social media user and content creator while getting a fair amount of compensation for the contents you’ve created, a Web3-based social media platform like Myriad Social is worth looking at.
The DWebGuide also asserted in its editorial late last year that any decentralized/Web3 social media projects is worth supporting since it is unlikely that Facebook (or Meta), Twitter or any other centralized tech giants are willing to give up their power and control over users’ data soon.
Now, let’s go to the technical qualities of Myriad Social which preserves users’ data sovereignty and freedom of expression while at the same time allowing them to monetize the contents they’ve shared.
Decentralized and federated systems (vs. centralized)
Instead of relying on one central server totally controlled by a big tech corporation and the middlemen who operate the server, the decentralized Myriad Social runs on a blockchain layer, comprising several hosts, each with its own server (called nodes in the blockchain terminology), to manage users’ contents and tokens. Then, it also has a federation layer, also comprising multiple servers, which curates different contents created by different communities and moderators.
This way, any data or information that’s published on Myriad Social will be stored in this distributed ledger hosted by lots of servers. This way, it is much more difficult for any operator or server host to just delete a content or an account out of existence from the system.
Furthermore, the decentralized nature of Myriad Social also makes it possible to manage contents on consensus. For instance, different server operators can come up with their own guidelines on what kind of contents they can and cannot publish, plus which communities they can and cannot host on their servers (in terms of political views, the kinds of artworks produced, etc.).
This way, to participate in Myriad Social, you can just find a server operator which guidelines matches the kinds of contents your community publishes, or just host your own server, with your very own guidelines based on community consensus.
Finally, because the decentralized network works based on consensus, the kind of algorithm that is being used will also be made transparent to you. Meaning, you can refuse to have certain kinds of ads and/or contents targeted at you. Also, instead of the content servers being the ones who sell your data to third parties to give the latter market insight without your consent, Myriad Social users can sell their data directly to buyers as NFTs, using an encryption method which protects their privacy (we will soon publish an article which explains in-depth how this works).
Now, let’s talk about how the use of cryptocurrency tokens allow Myriad Social to achieve this transparency.
The use of cryptocurrency tokens (instead of fiat currency)
As a decentralized social media platform, Myriad Social uses cryptocurrencies to facilitate transactions (including tipping your fellow content creators). Currently, Myriad Social facilitates Myria, Kusama, Polkadot and Near tokens in its platform.
The cryptocurrency allows for a peer-to-peer transaction, without any middlemen like banks or fintech companies. As a consequence, the peer-to-peer transaction is much cheaper and more efficient because you don’t have to pay any transaction fees to any middlemen. You just need to pay a small sum of what is called the ‘gas fee’ for the miners, a term referring to a group of people who use their computers to validate your transactions.
With less transaction fees, you can make more money from your creations. Picture this: you’ll no longer have record labels or galleries or publishers standing between you and your buyer, extracting a lot of transaction and distribution fees, leaving you only a minuscule amount of royalty. As a content creator, you’ll be more prosperous with your buyers paying directly to you by owning your contents as NFTs or send you some tips.
Furthermore, the cryptocurrency system also allows you to sell your data directly to buyers, thus giving you more power to decide from which parties you’d like to monetize your data and which parties you’d rather not. This way, you can rest assured that your personal data won’t end up in the hands of any repressive governments or any brands which use it for algorithmic manipulation.
So. After reading how Myriad Social can give you more bargaining power as a user compared to the centralized social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, etc., are you curious to give it a try?
