The rise of decentralized social media platform experiences is shaking the foundation of traditional social media channels, challenging traditional market leaders to innovate and adapt. According to Gartner, by 2027, social media platform models will shift from “customer as product” to “platform as customer” of decentralized identity sold through data markets.1 With blockchain-based networks offering a level of transparency, security, and user empowerment never seen before, it's becoming increasingly clear that decentralized social media presents a wealth of opportunities for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
The current social media business model adopted by many social media platforms is raising concerns as they treat their customers as a commodity, collecting their data for advertising ad marketing purposes. Using this model makes their customers feel more like products rather than customers. Traditional social media platforms are also controlled by a centralized authority, often being profit-oriented businesses. This control means that users have limited freedoms in terms of content creation and information sharing. They have also been known to suffer from data breaches in the past, leaving user data exposed. Traditional social media platforms can freely utilize user-generated content for their gain without necessarily compensating the creator.
Steemit is a revolutionary social network that rewards its community with its own cryptocurrency, STEEM. Unlike other platforms, Steemit pays you for creating and curating quality content. STEEM can be easily exchanged for Bitcoin and Ethereum, the most popular digital currencies in the world. Steemit is powered by Steem Blockchain, a decentralized ledger that records all transactions and votes. Steemit leverages the wisdom of the crowd to reward the most valuable content and curation. Every day, millions of dollars worth of STEEM are distributed to users based on their contributions. Imagine if Reddit, one of the most popular social networks, paid you for every upvote and post you make. Reddit is valued between $500 million and $4 billion which means that each and every upvote and post is worth 18-19 between $0.06 and $0.50 assuming the value of Reddit is mostly within the past year’s worth of activity. However, Reddit keeps all the profits for itself, while Steemit shares them with its community. Steemit understands that the value of a social network is not just the content, but also the links and interactions between them. A single comment or vote may not seem important, but together they form a powerful network of information and influence. Steemit rewards both content creators and curators for adding value to the network.2
Decentralized social platforms prioritize the community, granting users and businesses more control. Businesses and users can create and join social groups, giving them a place to share their interests with like-minded users. This autonomy and control have fostered strong communities on these decentralized platforms, which can also translate to better business-customer relations. They are prioritizing content control and ownership for users. This way, users can dictate how their content is used and who profits from it. Decentralized social media platforms operate by having no central authority regulating the content that is published on the platform. This creates a level playing field for all users, regardless of whether they're an individual or business. One of the main reasons these sorts of platforms are disrupting their centralized counterparts is their ability to monetize content. They are providing transparency because they operate on a blockchain which is essentially a public ledger that records all transactions made on the platform. This cultivates more honest and open communication with your business and its customers, allowing them to build a more transparent and authentic brand reputation. Their adoption rates are relatively slow due to their network effect, which currently favors established platforms with large user bases at the moment and because of their decentralized nature, it also makes them susceptible to spam, trolling, and fake news. When these platforms start placing empirical value on their creators these issues and adoption growth rates can quickly take a turn.
Market leaders are incentivizing users to create and share content which provides businesses and users with an opportunity to earn revenue from their social media presence, rather than just spend on it. Market leaders are able to tweak their social media strategies in real-time, rather than having to wait for feedback from customers. As decentralization continues to gain momentum, it's clear that these platforms are here to stay and that businesses that ignore them risk being left behind. Market leaders are better able to guarantee a better user experience for their customers, maintain customer satisfaction, and increase brand loyalty on these decentralized social platforms. With the absence of a central authority, censorship becomes almost impossible, ensuring that users have the freedom to express their ideas without fear of being silenced. It is becoming a disruptive force that has the potential to revolutionize the social market as we know it.