One of the promises of the blockchain is a sort of new internet, the ability to communicate and transact on a new ledger, owned by the public, with an attempt at privacy thrown in the mix for good measure. Or something along those lines. Really, it’s much more than all that, and it has manifested itself in a number of avenues.
Among these are the obvious things like shopping and online gambling, but perhaps the most exciting thing emerging in the space is a host of blockchain-native social media platforms, each with a thriving community and a somewhat different thrust.
There’s No Blockchain Facebook
None of the platforms directly mimic outside social media – each is built on its own principals. This is to say that there is no “blockchain Facebook” or “blockchain Twitter,” but the ability to do what those platforms do is out there. For example, for quick missives, Note blockchain makes sense, with its nimble user interface and 24-hour expiry date for posts. Nothing like Facebook, with its focus on friendships and personal updates, has truly emerged, but there’s nothing to say it couldn’t. The question is where the monetary incentive comes in – are we to expect our loved ones to tip us on social media now?
Note, like all known blockchain social media apps, allows for tipping and exchange between users. This means that good content producers can be rewarded with real-world cryptocurrency, which is worth money in Bitcoin and thus fiat.
In the space, perhaps the most notable contender for blockchain social media king is Steemit, which boasts millions of users and mountains of content. Steemit allows users to earn money in a variety of ways, from commenting and upvoting to a form of financial staking. Steemit is much like Cent.co and Honest.cash, which separately allow people to blog and earn money for doing so.
Blockchain Blogging For Cash
The difference with Steemit is of course that posts and content are published on the Steem blockchain, which itself is immutable. However, certain content can be removed by whoever is hosting the blockchain, and users can be silenced in that way. It has happened before, most notably in relation to the publication of some 9/11 papers.
Nevertheless, other sites such as Busy.org and D.tube, publish the full Steemit content line. D.tube focuses on publishing videos by Steemit users, while Busy.org seems to have a wider range of content it’s willing to display, minus the ads one might see all over Steemit’s main website.
For me, the most convenient-to-use blockchain social media application has been Note. I simply searched for it in the Google Play store and installed it, and poof, I was earning cryptocurrency for posting relatively mundane updates. But it, like Twitter, is also handy for promoting posts from FullyCrypto.
For longer blogging, I’ve come to appreciate the interface and ease of earning Bitcoin Cash on Honest.cash, although Steemit is always fun. Ultimately, I recommend having an account on all the blockchain social media sites, including others like EOS’s Voice, which is still in beta.
Ultimately, social media can come to mean more than just likes and heart emojis; it can lead to dollars and cents. Those who are capable of creating good content get rewarded on these networks, and much like traditional social media, stars are emerging.
All in all, unfortunately the state of blockchain social media can be said to still be very much “emerging.” Therefore, there’s no better time to get involved with it, not just to help it grow, but potentially to plant a stake in something huge.
