The meteoric rise of social media can’t be understated. At present, practically 5 billion (4.9 billion to be precise) folks worldwide use social media platforms, that means 1 out of each Three individuals are related to a social platform. Based on Demand Sage analysis agency, this quantity is projected to achieve 5.85 billion within the subsequent 4 years because the penetration of smartphones grows bigger. Platforms resembling TikTok, Instagram, Fb, and X (previously Twitter) boast billions of energetic customers, exhibiting the facility social media has on the human race.

Every of those mega social platforms pays content material creators for content material that engages their customers, a monetization venture not too long ago amplified by X’s month-to-month payouts. Nonetheless, a rising variety of customers stay disgruntled that these large social media corporations host their posts however take the lion’s share of the income generated.

Moreover, these large information corporations preserve full ‘possession and management’ over the customers’ information – making a privateness drawback as these corporations began promoting clients’ information. Within the earlier components of the final decade, private information belonging to 87 million Fb customers was collected with out their consent by  British consulting agency Cambridge Analytica, who then used the info predominantly for political promoting. This scandal ravaged the UK Parliament and U.S. Congress, which led to Meta agreeing to pay $725m (£600m) to settle authorized motion over the info breaches.

For the reason that scandal, social media customers and builders have turn into extra weary of massive information corporations, as many nonetheless imagine large information corporations place income over the precise wants of customers. As Ashkan Soltani, a former chief technologist for the Federal Commerce Fee, defined to The Guardian in 2019:

“Whereas it seems that Fb is out of the blue ‘woke’ to privateness points, it’s secure to imagine it’s enterprise as ordinary there.”

Within the seek for higher social media platforms, one expertise is closely signalled as the answer to the present social media age  – blockchain expertise. Social media platforms constructed on the blockchain are quickly revolutionizing the way in which folks share, work together, talk, and monetize content material on-line. This expertise introduces novel options, together with transparency, information possession, non-censorship, and decentralized incentives to social media platforms – enhancing the usability of the platform and the privateness of its customers.

How blockchain is revolutionizing the social media trade

With billions of individuals nonetheless residing on TikTok, Snapchat, Fb, X, Instagram, and different Internet 2 social media platforms, blockchain-based social platforms nonetheless have a protracted solution to go. However with the qualities supplied on these platforms, it is just a matter of time earlier than customers rush to decentralized social media platforms.

As an illustration, Phaver, a social media platform powered by social graph protocols Lens Protocol and CyberConnect, goals to carry this revolution to the worldwide plenty. The Twitter-like platform is constructed to boost user-experience and supply a beneficial, easy-to-use service – aiming to carry the subsequent billion folks to Internet 3-based social platforms.

Nevertheless, it’s the social-finance (SocialFi) facet that drives most individuals in the direction of Internet Three based mostly social media platforms. Phaver’s SocialFi improvements permit consumer profile possession, monetization of non-public information, and privateness enhancement, as no third-party can entry your information with out your consent. However, the platform contains interoperability options permitting customers to maneuver between platforms (e.g. switch your information from Twitter to Fb) with no need to construct a brand new viewers from scratch.

In contrast to conventional large information corporations, Phaver’s promoting on social media permits customers to choose out of the intrusive monitoring throughout the net (circa TikTok scandal). The platform presents customers an possibility of a very ad-free expertise for a small charge, or a free expertise with some adverts. The distinction with conventional social media platforms is that the adverts won’t be focused because the platform doesn’t acquire any customers’ information or private data. Lastly, customers may choose within the income sharing mannequin, whereby should you click on an advert and buy a product, the platform rewards you with factors that can be utilized inside the Phaver ecosystem.

One other Internet Three social community is Peer Inc., which integrates blockchain into AR social media platforms. The platform introduces novel options to social media, offering an immersive expertise for customers by way of its AR-focused social platform, Peer SuperApp.

Moreover, Peer Inc. additionally offers a decentralized federated id (DFI) to each social media consumer, permitting them to personal their total digital footprint from social and media content material they’ve collected all through their lives. However, customers can create public utilities (entry tokens) to their information so that they gained’t have to share their DFI with every service they enroll with, enhancing their privateness and anonymity on the web.

Can Internet Three social platforms exchange large information platforms?

The potential for Internet Three social platforms to exchange Internet 2 social media platforms is a subject of ongoing debate and hypothesis.  Internet Three social media platforms supply consumer privateness, management over their very own information and decentralized incentives alongside options to large information promoting information to 3rd events. Whereas this might be a pretty function for people involved about information privateness, the blockchain revolution in social media continues to be many years off the successes of conventional social platforms.

Internet 2 social media platforms have an enormous consumer base and robust community results. Many individuals use these platforms every day for communication, content material sharing, and social interplay. Changing such well-established platforms with Internet Three options would require vital consumer migration. As well as, the scalability, consumer expertise, design, and options that Fb, Twitter, and TikTok supply drive folks to Internet 2 platforms.

In conclusion, whereas Internet Three social platforms supply a promising imaginative and prescient of decentralization and consumer empowerment, changing Internet 2 social media platforms is a posh and difficult activity. The extent to which Internet Three platforms can exchange Internet 2 platforms will rely on elements like consumer adoption, technological developments, regulatory developments, and evolving consumer preferences.