Blockchain has changed the world in a variety of ways. This technology has advanced tremendously in just a few decades and is constantly revolutionizing many aspects of modern human life.
With over 3 billion users today, social media has become an essential part of our lives. People are becoming increasingly skeptical of it, however, as concerns about the flaws inherent in modern social media, such as privacy issues and advertisement fraud, arise.
Blockchain technology appears to have the potential to address common issues that cause people to be wary of popular social platforms. Can it, however, have a significant impact on how digital networks operate and usher in a new era of social media?
In this article, we will look at how blockchain can help to alleviate some of the problems associated with traditional social media while also shedding light on some of its shortcomings. So, read on to find out if blockchain-based social networks are the next big thing.
An Introduction to Blockchain Technology
If you are tech-savvy and familiar with blockchain technology and are only interested in determining whether you would use a blockchain-powered social platform ten years from now, feel free to skip ahead. But, for the uninitiated, we’ll start by explaining blockchain technology because, according to our research, not many people understand what it is.
A blockchain, in its most basic form, is a chain of information blocks. Blockchain technology enables the secure sharing of digital assets over a peer-to-peer network, with files stored within network nodes.
Blockchain distributed or decentralized ledger technology is defined by the distribution of data across multiple nodes. As a peer-to-peer technology, it eliminates the need for a third party. The data is secure, distributed across multiple nodes, and immutable.
As we will see, these characteristics make blockchain a suitable choice for many areas that have an impact on people’s lives, particularly social media.
Blockchain is a technology that should be closely monitored. It is a force to be reckoned with because of the rate at which it is evolving and the scale at which it is transforming traditional processes.
Let’s take a look at how blockchain technology can alter the way we think about social media today.
Blockchain and social media: The inception of decentralized social networks.
Social media has quickly evolved from a set of innocent platforms that help people connect with their loved ones to monstrous overlords that sell user data and change the way we think. This personality shift has resulted in a decrease in usage of one of the most popular social media platforms, Facebook, which is notorious for suspicious data mining and commodifying its users.
Blockchain has the potential to solve the four major social media issues listed below, ushering in a new era of social interaction:
Data Security and Privacy
Who can forget congresspeople’s 10-hour “chit-chat” with none other than Facebook CEO and Co-Founder Mark Zuckerberg about user data security and usage?
Despite backlash and criticism, Facebook, the most important social platform, has never stopped accessing its users’ data. However, their data collection is so suspect that they have been accused of collecting users’ calls and SMS for years! It’s not just Facebook. All of the major social platforms, including Instagram and TikTok, are notorious for collecting data.
Some of the most serious concerns about social media are data privacy and security. But, unfortunately, we don’t know how much and what kind of data our social media platforms can access from the moment we create an account.
By decentralizing social networks, blockchain technology solves this problem. As a result, there is no central entity or CEO with access to all of their users’ data in blockchain-based social networks.
Each transaction that occurs on a blockchain network is encrypted and not accessible by a single entity, with the exception of those on the P2P network, which increases the privacy and security of digital assets and personal information.
Furthermore, blockchain social networks enable users to create profiles without revealing their identities, lowering the risk of identifying and using this data for malicious or non-malicious purposes.
Data integrity is also addressed by blockchain technology. No data can be deleted once it is stored in a blockchain, and it is extremely difficult to tamper with.
Even if a hacker breaks into one of the blocks and modifies the information, this alters the identity or “hash” of the entire block, destroying the integrity of all subsequent blocks.
So that’s one problem that blockchain can solve, but it won’t be without consequences, as we’ll see below.
Read Do You Have to Pay Taxes on Cryptocurrency?
Unbiased Content Moderation
The next major complaint that users have about social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is biased content moderation.
Because centralized social media platforms, such as the ones mentioned above, delegate decision-making authority to a small group of people. And these individuals are required to censor certain types of content due to either a code of ethics or political responsibilities.
Social media behemoths have been under fire for some time now due to biased censorship issues. Under the guise of “bugs” and “technical problems,” they are blamed for removing volatile content or anything that doesn’t “sit well” with their decision-makers.
On Red Dress Day in Canada, a similar issue arose when Instagram removed posts aimed at raising awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, citing technical difficulties.
Blockchain technology eliminates censorship bias and advocates for free speech and expression by decentralizing social platforms. By putting the power of content creation, consumption, and moderation back in the hands of users, blockchain-backed social media eliminates the need for third-party, influential moderators and their pet algorithms.
These platforms attract silenced activists, radical voices, and even political forerunners due to their freedom of expression and lack of censorship.
Mind is a blockchain-based social platform that promotes free speech while restricting censorship on its platform. This is why it drew the attention of more than 100,000 Vietnamese activists fleeing government-led cybersecurity crackdowns and fear of being silenced.
Incentives for the Users
Social media platforms have become wealthy as a result of the advertising revenue they generate in exchange for user information. For example, Facebook’s revenue increased dramatically between 2020 and 2021.
However, many people are now raising their voices and demanding that social media behemoths share the revenue they generate in exchange for user data with the users whose data they steal, often without their knowledge.
Blockchain-based social networks, on the other hand, can offer users incentives while promising data security. When their users post high-quality content, they frequently reward them with tokens or platform-native currencies.
Minds are one such platform that pays its users in the form of tokens, which they can then use to boost their posts and reach a larger audience.
Furthermore, because users can collect tokens or cryptocurrencies directly from their fellow users via the platform, these decentralized platforms provide users with better opportunities for crowdfunding campaigns.
Revolutionizing Advertisement
Advertisers lose billions of dollars due to ad fraud. And what about swindlers? By faking video reviews, they can earn up to $5 million per day.
Are you considering a career change? Consider it again.
Fraud, a lack of transparency, and a lack of user trust are three of the most common problems associated with digital advertising. However, as blockchain technology evolves and expands into social media advertising, the chances of ad fraud are decreasing, so you should stick with your current job.
Blockchain-based social networks enable digital advertisers to more accurately track KPIs and ad impressions, ensuring transparency to advertisers that they are paying for actual human-generated results rather than bot-induced results.
Furthermore, as previously stated, blockchain technology provides exceptional data security and privacy benefits. As a result, blockchain advertising dispels user concerns that advertising firms are purchasing their data in order to target them with relevant ads.
Furthermore, with platform-native currencies, these networks provide marketers with new and safer ways to collect user data. A marketing firm, for example, can reward users in exchange for the data they share. As a result, the user receives something in exchange for their contribution, and advertisers and marketers receive information directly from the source.
The use of blockchain technology to decentralize social platforms removes friction from advertising channels. Advertisers no longer need to create separate ad accounts and then wait for ad verification from central authorities (such as Google), making it easier for businesses to connect with their audience and boost their posts with the tokens they can earn simply by creating great content.
Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that decentralized, blockchain-based social platforms have a promising future in the social media sector. Obviously not. Who comes to a conclusion without first reading the opposing side of the story? Not with us!
Blockchain-Based Social Media – The Other Side of the Story
Every coin has two sides, one positive and one negative. And decentralized social media has its own set of drawbacks, which include:
Hate Speech and Bullying
Blockchain-powered social platforms cannot guarantee that they will not publish racist, sexist, or religiously offensive content due to a lack of centralized content moderation.
Any information that is created in the blockchain remains there in perpetuity. It cannot be deleted or changed. As a result, if a racist creates a culturally offensive social media post, he will not offend people of color on his network. However, the information created remains there indefinitely.
Furthermore, the inability of users or platform owners to delete user data on-demand renders it non-compliant with the European Union GDPR, which requires data deletion on demand.
To make matters worse, because blockchain social platforms do not always link back to the original user, it would be nearly impossible to track down and punish the perpetrators.
Storage and Scalability
Minds, a blockchain social network, has approximately 2.5 million users, compared to Facebook’s billions.
However, if these peer-to-peer social networks enter the mainstream digital network, the blockchain nodes may be unable to scale and process the influx of information that will result from the widespread adoption of these platforms.
Technological Development
Because we are still technologically immature to migrate entire systems that have found their footing on centralized social media to decentralized platforms, the ubiquity of blockchain social platforms is likely a decade or two away.
Centralized social platforms, for example, provide easy access to the user database, which supplements marketing and advertising strategies. This may be more difficult with blockchain-based social media.
Conclusion
So, what’s the final word? Is the next generation of social media on the horizon?
We are on the verge of a blockchain-led social media revolution. However, many innovations and technologies must be developed before the decentralization of social media can occur on a large scale, shaking the dominance of centralized social giants with love-hate relationships and becoming the next big thing.
Learn more from business and read An Ultimate Guide to Blockchain Wallet For 2022.
