There are many ways that most true blockchain integrated social media platforms are better than traditional legacy platforms. Some platforms have all these benefits and some only have a few. The main benefits are transparency, decentralization, monetization, censorship-resistant, privacy, distributed network, and the ability to stake your investment.
Mind you, these aren't only seen on blockchain platforms, but tend to be more prevalent in blockchain and would imply it's a good platform.
Transparency
While not all blockchain integrated social platforms are fully transparent, typically it is a promoted value. Minds does its best to keep people updated, they have a working roadmap and all their code changes and source code are available to everyone. All transactions on Steem are public, etc. Again, not all platforms are perfect, but generally, blockchain social platforms will lean towards transparency. Publish0x and Uptrennd aren’t as transparent, but they do a great job in keeping us updated. The key thing here is that legacy platforms are extremely non-transparent so even when platforms like Publish0x and Uptrennd aren’t as transparent as Steem, they are still much more transparent in what they are working on and changing than legacy platforms.
Decentralization
Typically, blockchain integrated platforms are built around decentralization. Steem is the perfect example of a very decentralized platform where the moderation is done by the community and witnesses are elected to find consensus for hard forks. Minds is working more and more towards decentralizing like with their jury system and working to give users more power. Uptrennd and Publish0x are much more centralized. The thing to note here is that it’s usually based on how integrated the blockchain is into the platform. For Minds and Steem it’s much more than just enabling crypto monetization. With Publish0x and Uptrennd, the main use of blockchain is just for the cryptocurrencies being used on the platform and not the actual backend software of the platforms.
Monetization
All platforms that reward cryptocurrency to their users for engagements and actions on the platform do a much better job of monetizing than legacy platforms. Now there are platforms that do this without a blockchain and there isn’t a huge difference, but the biggest most notable difference is that when you use cryptocurrency to reward users, they have much more control given it’s publicly traded. For example, Minds recently changed the value of their token because it’s not really being traded publicly so that is easy for them to achieve. Mind you, it’s a utility token and not meant to be publicly traded. DLive doesn’t use the blockchain and could arbitrarily change their token value at any time. Publish0x being crypto-agnostic, they are simply rewarding you with cryptocurrencies that are already being traded publicly based on sponsorships and Uptrennd has recently gotten their token on exchanges so now its value will be better determined by the users trading it.
Censorship-Resistant
Platforms that are truly integrated into the blockchain should be censorship-resistant. Platforms that are not are at least working towards this. Minds will only moderate content that is illegal or it may otherwise mark it explicit. Currently, Steem is the only truly censorship-resistant platform, but the rest do a great job of working towards that ideal and haven’t had any major cases that might prove otherwise. They do a significantly better job than legacy platforms to achieve this.
Privacy-Focused
Typically, these platforms are much more privacy-focused and championing the users’ rights. For example, Steem has no moderation from a central authority so no one is looking into what you’re doing secretly. Minds, for example, has encrypted messenger to combat the issues presented with Facebook spying on your private messages. Generally, these platforms will push for better privacy and upholding individual rights.
Distributed Networks
The proper use of blockchain technologies is to have distributed networks and again Steem is the best example of this. Minds is trying to make better use of peer-to-peer media and distribute and decentralize where possible. Steem applications like DTube use IPFS to better distribute their content and promote censorship resistance and promote peer to peer collaboration.
Ability to Stake Investment
Not all platforms offer this, but there are plenty of proof-by-stake platforms that let you stake your cryptocurrency that will give you more influence and power on the platform. For example, on Steem if you stake your Steem your voting power is increased and you can also delegate that power as you see fit which could, in turn, help you earn more Steem, support other users, and more. Typically, on most stake-able platforms, you can also get your stake back after a lock-in period. For Steem that is 3 months, whereas say for Uptrennd, you cannot get your staked investment back. The difference in Uptrennd being that you will also receive more Uptrennd points with a higher stake. It varies from platform to platform, but you won’t see anything like this on any legacy platforms. It allows you to invest in the platform and gain some influence from doing so.
Do you agree? Is there anything I missed? Let everyone know in the comments below and let us know what your favorite blockchain integrated social media platform is!
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