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5 Ways Blockchain Shifts Social Media Trends

blockchain

Social media is the driving factor behind the development of many industries. The cryptocurrency and blockchain industry is one of them. Thanks to social media’s incredible information-sharing capabilities, millions of people have learned a great deal about blockchain.

Now, it’s blockchain’s turn to return the favor. It’s going to change social media networks significantly in the ways it’s never been changed before.

Here are five of the most important ones.

1. Decentralized Social Media Networks

You know how many people are talking about quitting Facebook? Few actually follow through with their promises simply because they think the alternatives aren’t there. Well, there are quite a few unusual options available for them to try: blockchain-based social media networks.

Yes, blockchain has already given birth to a new kind of social media: decentralized. This means that the servers with data are independently run, so there’s no way the network managers can access user data. For those concerned with their online privacy, being a part of such a network is a much better idea.

Diaspora is one of the blockchain-based networks. Here’s how it differs from the traditional ones:

  • the data is stored on servers run by third parties all over the world
  • the users don’t have to use their real identity to register and interact with others
  • the users own their own data and don’t sign over the rights to any third parties
  • there’s no government or other bodies that could impose censorship.

Diaspora shares most features with traditional social media but the advantage of allowing the users to have complete control over their data is certainly something that many are looking for.

Read more: Twitter To Fund Creation Of Decentralized Social Media Standard.

2. Eliminate Middlemen in Social Media Advertising

Social media advertising is one of the areas where you can incorporate blockchain in a digital marketing strategy.

Here’s how. If you’d like to advertise on traditional social media, you need user data. To collect and validate it, though, you need third-party apps. Add some middlemen here and there, and the cost of running ads gets unnecessarily high.

Removing middlemen in digital advertising is what blockchain does, so it’s definitely useful in the social media environment. The technology can allow businesses to pay their potential customers directly to watch their ads. As a result, there’s no need to have a middleman managing the process.

There are already technologies enabling this new kind of digital marketing.

Ad-blocking browsers are a good example here,” says David Rowe, a blockchain writer from ClassyEssay. “They use cryptocurrencies to allow advertisers to compensate online audiences for viewing their ads. The audiences, in turn, don’t have to give up their private data.”

3. More Control Over Content

Besides data privacy, many people wish to leave Facebook because of its history of manipulating content. One of the most prominent cases happened in 2014 when the platform’s data scientists decided to run an experiment to learn more about human emotions.

All that, without getting permission from users.

According to a Facebook statement that was released after the experiment, they had manipulated the news feeds of almost 670,000 users and changed the number of positive and negative posts. The news has shocked the platform’s users and privacy advocates. The New York Times described the experiment as “manipulation” and stated that people were “lab rats” to Facebook.

Such an unprecedented violation of trust would be impossible in a blockchain-enabled social media network. It lacks a single body that controls content distribution, so conducting an experiment with users’ news feeds would be impossible.

With the rise of blockchain-enabled social media networks, traditional ones might also consider giving more power over content distribution over to their users.

In fact, blockchain social media might also allow users to get compensated for their content with cryptocurrency. The quality of content will be the deciding factor.

4. Blockchain-Enabled Influencer Marketing

The use of influencers as a marketing method is increasing. With more people trusting influencers more than brands, an increasing number of companies are partnering with them to promote their products and services.

There are, however, some challenges. Avoidable expenses, to be exact. To find a good influencer and maximize the ROI from a campaign, brands are often required to register on influencer discovery tools or pay fees to advertising agencies. Together, these aspects contribute to an unnecessarily complex business ecosystem.

A blockchain-based social media solves this problem by simplifying the partnership between influencers and brands, according to Brian Stern, a senior writer from Subjecto and blockchain enthusiast.

As with all decentralized tools, there will be no middlemen to impose fees, so the system will be more business-focused and provide greater benefits for the stakeholders,” says Brian.

The obligations of the influencers and brands would be regulated by smart contracts. These innovative and digital agreements introduce higher security and transparency to contract execution thanks to the fact that no one could change or lose anything without the permission of the parties.

5. Providing Secure Payments for Products inside a Social Media App

Popular social media networks are constantly coming up with new ways to excite people about using them and attract more businesses. One of the recent major developments is making payments inside applications of social media apps. With lots of people discovering products on Facebook and Instagram, it makes perfect sense to allow them to buy without leaving.

The ability to pay for products discovered on a social media network is, indeed, a cool feature. The user doesn’t have to leave the app to make a purchase, which also adds some efficiency. That’s why Instagram and other networks are already working on such a solution.

But there’s a bunch of problems because of which we still don’t have social media in-app payment solutions. Data breaches and concerns over third-parties getting their hands on sensitive payment data are some of the most important.

A blockchain-powered social media network wouldn’t have such problems. Because a cryptocurrency used for online payments is enabled by blockchain, integrating this functionality would be easier and more secure. Thanks to smart contracts, the users of such a social media platform would execute online transactions and manage them themselves.

That’s why legacy social media networks are researching the ability of blockchain to automate online contracts and transactions. Already, technology influences how social media platforms create their own payment solutions. For example, Facebook has recently unveiled its own cryptocurrency, Libra, and is planning a public launch this year.

Conclusion

Blockchain impacts social media in significant ways. Even though Facebook and other networks might not acknowledge it, they’re researching and studying the applications of the technology.

Already, blockchain has brought some revolutionary effects on social media. It’s only a matter of time when social networks will start adapting their business strategy to accommodate new capabilities brought about by blockchain.

AUTHOR BIO

Dorian Martin is a senior writer at TopEssayWriting and regular guest post writer at technology, marketing, and copywriting blogs. Starting his career as a freelance content writer, his focus has always been on sharing knowledge about the use of technology in digital marketing to help online businesses achieve faster growth. Dorian has helped numerous businesses from all over the world to create and improve content strategies.

Disclaimer: This is a guest post. KryptoMoney does not endorse and is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy, quality, advertising, products, or other materials on this page. Readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company. KryptoMoney is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the article.

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