Social media and social networking play considerable roles in our daily communications and interactions, especially in Web3. However, centralized control of these platforms has created many problems. Server outages, de-platforming, censorship, and privacy violations, to name a few. These platforms are able to take down or cancel a page for small and insignificant breaches of opaque terms and conditions, which isn’t suitable for users.
To combat this, people have been developing social networks on Ethereum, which could potentially resolve many of the problems in traditional social media platforms. For now, unfortunately, these alternative platforms may not give the same type of user experience, but they will certainly protect your privacy and freedom of speech. This is a trade-off, and you must decide whether it is worth it.
Considering the fact that Twitter just suspended the pages of DeGods, DeGods Community,
y00ts and y00tlist, it’s probably a good time to discuss and educate ourselves on some decentralized social media platforms which do not have the capabilities to do this.
First, What Are Decentralized Social Media Platforms?
Decentralized social media platforms are blockchain-based platforms that allow users to exchange information, write posts, and distribute content to audiences. Because they are run on the blockchain, they are decentralized, meaning that they are resistant to censorship and centralized control. There are many alternatives that exist to mainstream social media services such as Facebook and Twitter, however, they are just not that popular (yet?). So, without further ado, let’s look into my top 3 decentralized social media platforms that won’t suspend you or your favorite NFT projects.
#1 Minds
Minds is an open-source social network dedicated to internet freedom. People who use Minds are able to speak freely, have their privacy protected, earn crypto rewards and take back control of their social media. Typically, users enjoy posting videos, blogs, and images and setting up statuses.
People can also message and video chat securely with groups or directly with a single friend. Minds also provide a trending feed and the use of hashtags to discover the content of specific interest. Minds can be seen as a hybrid of Facebook and YouTube in terms of utility.
Currently, Minds has more than 6 million users, over 8 million conversations happening, 5 million tokens rewarded, and 2 billion boosted views. Given its rapidly growing popularity, could Mind be the industry leader as we move closer and closer to mass adoption?
#2 Aether
Aether is an open-source, peer-2-peer platform for self-governing communities with auditable moderation and mod elections. It has no servers, which means that it is privacy sensitive. Users of Aether can create a community for their friends or strangers if that’s what they choose to do. All communities are public, and everyone can write to them.
If you’re familiar with Reddit, this can be somewhat compared to it. However, Aether does two main things differently. First, Aether is ephemeral, which means that content disappears after a while (6 months) unless someone saves it. Second, the communities are democratic, meaning they elect their own leadership. If you like Reddit, or that type of platform, then be sure to check out Aether.
#3 Mastodon
Mastodon is the world’s largest decentralized and open-source micro-blogging network. Essentially, Mastodon is an open-source alternative to our beloved Twitter. It has a very similar feel and experience as Twitter’s Tweet deck, and it does work in pretty much the same way. However, Mastodon isn’t a single website like Twitter, and rather, it is a network of thousands of communities operated by different organizations and individuals that provide a perfect social media experience. This is something which is also known as the Fediverse. Mastodon is already quite popular amongst decentralization and free and open-source software (FOSS) enthusiasts. Be sure to check this one out if you love scrolling on Twitter.
What Are The Benefits Of Decentralized Social Media Platforms?
There are many advantages of using decentralized social media platforms. However, for this article, I will keep it to my top 6.
1. Decentralized platforms are resistant to censorship or centralized authority. This means they are open to everyone, pages cannot be suspended, and users cannot be banned or restricted arbitrarily.
2. Decentralized platforms are open-source, meaning that all applications are available for public inspection. This eliminates opaque algorithms that are used in traditional social media. Ultimately, this means that decentralized platforms can prioritize the interest of users and platform creators.
3. Decentralized platforms eliminate authority or a middleman. Content creators and writers alike have full ownership of their content. This means they can interact directly with followers, fans, and others with nothing in between them apart from the smart contract.
4. Decentralized platforms offer an improved revenue generation model for content creators through NFTs and crypto.
5. Decentralized platforms offer a much higher level of privacy and anonymity. Users can sign in to these platforms using a Web3 wallet without revealing their true identity if they choose not to.
6. Decentralized platforms rely on decentralized storage and not centralized databases. This is much better for the safeguarding of users’ data.
As you can see, there are plenty of pros and not many cons to using decentralized social media platforms. The only issue is, right now, the majority of people do not know about them or even understand what decentralization means. If this article has left you curious, please check out the platforms mentioned above. If you have friends who assume that Web3 or decentralization is a scam as many do, show them this article. Who knows, in the near future, these platforms could become the social norm.
