What Social Identity is and How it is a Foundation for Change
Social Identity: (web3) n. A self-sovereign identity designed specifically to enable people to take control of their data and value exchange in social networks. Social Identity contains the essential components that make it possible for the user to connect to, interact with and be discovered by others without the need to rely on a centralized social media platform. The user may choose to connect their Social Identity to any app that joins the Social Web.
Social media companies have established a digital norm in which they own and control the essential elements people use to connect to, interact with and be discovered by others in a social network. They have built business models that depend on “trapping” users and their identity data in walled gardens. This means if a user chooses (or is forced) to leave, they will also leave behind their information, their relationships, their “reach” or following and their interest graph (i.e. what the system has learned about their interests).
The Social Web, an evolution of the internet in which core social networking functionality is integrated within the web itself and no longer a proprietary corporate asset, is designed to shift the balance of control from private companies to people. The Frequency blockchain provides a universal Social Identity that is designed to contain the user’s relationships, reach, and interests and is controlled by the user rather than an individual app or platform. With its breakthrough pricing model, Frequency is designed to support the scaling required for the Social Web to achieve mass adoption. By making it possible for each user to own their Social Identity, and offering an economic model that enables adoption by apps with large user bases, Frequency introduces both a system that sharply contrasts with the mega-platforms’ established norm and a path that supports getting this functionality into users’ hands.
Social Identity contains the essential components that make it possible for the user to connect to, interact with and be discovered by others on a decentralized social network.
The Social Web Handle
The Social Identity includes a “universal handle” or username for each user. This universal handle is a name chosen by the user which is connected to the Social Identity itself, and may be accessed by any application on the Social Web. This Social Identity will enable a user to leverage a single following and network of personal connections across any or all apps that join the Social Web.
Social Web Networks
The user’s Social Identity is designed to contain cryptographically protected information about the user’s Social Web Network, i.e. their connection to interests and others on the Social Web. These Social Web Networks are composed of the user’s personal networks (who they are connected to and follow) the user’s following or reach (who follow them) and a matrix of the user’s personal interests (what matters most to them).
Frequency is expected to be a part of a growing ecosystem of infrastructure based on open protocols and standards that support the apps that join the Social Web. Frequency’s combination of its Social Web Handle and the adoption of open standards (including W3C and the Web3 foundation) and protocols (including DSNP) means that Frequency is designed to connect easily with other projects, tools and services in the Social Web.
One such area is the growing digital identity solution marketplace that provides validation and credentials to users for their online presence. Frequency’s Social Identity is designed specifically to cover the needs of social networks, and does not include the advanced functionality offered in the rapidly evolving broader digital identity solution space. Digital identity projects that seek to connect to users in the Social Web may integrate with Frequency which in turn will bring more value to users in the Social Web.
