The Rise of Decentralized Social Media

Is this the best approach to social media?

That is the stage for decentralized social media, which is what we see today. As against the which we all use on a daily basis, decentralized social media does not have one company which controls the platform, data, or experience. Instead, it is run by the community on block chain or peer to peer networks.

It’s early days still, but decentralized social media is taking off and for all the right reasons. In this piece, we will look at what exactly is decentralized social media, why it is so popular at the moment, the key players which are at the forefront of this trend, and what we may see in the coming years of this new age of online communication.

What Is Decentralized Social Media?

Before we may fully love the idea of decentralized social media, which is growing in popularity, we have to understand what it is.

Decentralized social media networks are the classic model of this. That is to say:

They are owned by a single company (for example, Meta, Twitter/X, or TikTok).

That one company has full control over how the site functions.

Your data, which includes your posts, messages, and private info, is stored.

They get to choose what you can and also what you can’t post.

This is a different approach to social media, which we see to be a reversal of the past. We have away from a single authority which ran the show and towards a model which is controlled by many users, servers, or nodes. Also, we see use of blockchain technology to achieve open and secure systems.

How decentralized platforms typically work:

• User ownership of data: You are the owner of your content. Sites do not have the right to remove or seize it.
• Community moderation: Standards are instead set by the community itself, which may not be a single CEO or board of directors.
• Open-source tech: Many decentralized programs use open source code, which means anyone may contribute to it or create their own version.

In the same way, think of a large chain store (centralized) which has its set rules and products to a farmer’s market (decentralized), which is run by the community of vendors that bring in their individual stands and sell what they wish.

Why Is Decentralized Social Media Popular?

So what is the rush to decentralized networks? We see a large number of reasons, but let’s look into the change drivers that we have.

1. Privacy issues.

Quietest to discuss first: Most don’t care for how social media companies use their personal info. Reports of data being sold to ads, spying, or political interference has broken trust.

In a distributed network, you have control over your info. Your entries do not get mined to create ad profiles out of your knowledge. Privacy is not what the system issues through complicated privacy policies; it’s a fundamental aspect of the system.

2. Control and Suppression of Content.

When big platforms moderate certain types of content, which at times justly and at other times unjustly, we see users’ voices put out.

Decentralized social networks enable a greater degree of control for the users, as they get to police what kind of content which is posted. We still see some level of moderation play out (no one is interested in spam which fills up their feed), but the mod report and policing of the issue is often done by the local communities or through democratic means, as opposed to by large companies who may not be very transparent with the public.

3. Freedom from algorithms’ manipulation.

Have at times do you notice that Reddit is putting what it wants in your feed and not what you may want to see? Traditional sites use algorithms, which, while they do maximize engagement, may not be the best for your particular experience.

Decentralized platforms, which in turn allow members to choose how their content shows up — chronologically, by what is most popular, or which is put forward by the community. We have that power back in our hands.

4. Ownership of content and identity.

Decentralized platforms which you own your identity and content on. We call this “portable identity”. Also, if you leave a centralized platform, you usually have to start over. But in decentralized platforms, your account and followers go with you from one app to another, which all use the same protocol.

5. Financial rewards and recognition.

Blockchain platforms some time award users with tokens or crypto for creating what is to be considered popular content or for their part in the community. This goes beyond use of social media as a past time, which may also present a revenue chance for creators and users.

Technologies Behind Decentralized Social Media

Several technologies support decentralized social media: Various technologies support decentralized social media:.

1. Cryptocurrency ledger.

Blockchain is a secure and immutable platform for data storage. Posts, likes, and engagements may be put onto a blockchain, which means they are resistant to prompt alteration or deletion by bad actors or large corporations.

2. P2P Networks.

P2P networks do away with central servers. Instead, information is shared between users’ devices, as in file sharing which you see in BitTorrent.

3. Open Standards.

Open APIs, which include ActivityPub, enable different platforms to interoperate with each other, which in turn has given rise to what we know as the Fediverse – a decentralized network of social platforms.

4. Pegging out tokens.

With crypto or digital tokens, decentralized platforms can issue insurance, reward good behavior, or monetary for use.

Examples of Decentralized Social Media Platforms

We see the decentralized social media in its infancy, but at the same time, we have some protocols and platforms that are causing a stir.

1. Tusked beast of rock music which is Mastodon.

Mastodon is what you may think of as Twitter/X but in the Fediverse — which means each instance (server) is run by different people or organizations. You can engage with users on any instance, out of which you choose to run your own. There is no single company which runs the whole thing.

2. Farcaster.

In the case of Farcaster, which is built on blockchain tech, you own your social graph. If a service doesn’t suit your needs, you may take your followers and profile to another app in the same protocol.

3. Lense Protocol.

Lens Protocol is an ecosystem built on blockchain which has users own their content in the form of NFTs. We see full ownership of posts, profiles, and connections, which also includes the ability to transfer between apps in the Lens network.

4. Bluesky.

Bluesky was initiated by Jack Dorsey at the start and is built on the AT Protocol, which in turn they are putting forward as a decentralized base for what will be the next generation of social networks. Also, like Mastodon, it is out to break up the hold of the large centralized networks.

These are a few from what we have at present, which is a ever changing pool as developers report in with new models of decentralized social interaction.

Challenges of Decentralized Social Media

Despite what is put forth, decentralized social media has issues. We see that it has legitimate problems which will have to be solved if it is to ever become a large scale alternative to the likes of Instagram or TikTok.

1. User Interface Experience.

Come on: Centralized apps such as Instagram or TikTok are a pleasure to use. Decentralized alternatives are difficult in comparison, which is very true for people that are not into tech.

Stream which new users go through in the on boarding and design stages is, we think, the largest issue for wide scale adoption.

2. Problems with moderation.

Along with the ability for free speech on decentralized platforms comes that of it becoming a place for toxicity and abuse if left unmoderated. As we enable free expression, at the same time, we must also pay attention to user safety, which is a issue when you do not have a central authority to do that for you.

Most of what we see in decentralized platforms is either some form of community based moderation or a moderation filter which users may choose for themselves, at the same time, it is still very much a work in progress.

3. Scale which.

Can do decentralized platforms scale to the number of users which centralized ones already serve? We see that scalability is a tech issue, mainly for blockchain, which in general is slower than relational databases.

4. Breakup.

In many cases, we see that platforms are developed in silo, which in turn causes our ecosystem to do the same. One platform doesn’t integrate with another, which in turn leaves us with separate communities. ActivityPub and other open standards are putting in work to fix this issue, but we aren’t there yet.

5. Financing.

Without support from large advertisers and venture capital, some decentralized platforms have what they need to put into their operations. They at times use donation models, and also some put in place cryptocurrency or token economies to generate revenue.

The Future of Decentralized Social Media

Despite which which, social media decentralization is on the rise. There is a trend toward that which will be a large part of the future of the Internet:.

1. Trend of Digital Self Determination.

Human what is that which has come to the fore that we as a human species must take back into our hands our digital identity? Also, in the area of economic liberty, which saw the rise of Bitcoin and the like, we see that at the same time there is a great desire for control over our digital social space.

Decentralized systems are the best for this.

2. Integration into Web3.

In the world of Web3, which is the decentralized web, we see the growth of decentralized social media. As we develop Web3 tech, we expect to see more of decentralized applications (dApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi) along with social media to become an integrated platform in which users have control of their digital identity.

3. Algorithms for personalization.

Most also that which is very exciting is user hosted algorithms. Instead of what some company algorithm may present to you, in the future you will be able to choose from a variety of open source algorithms — even to host your own.

4. Developer Empowerment.

Direct connection to our audiences. We removed the middleman, we stopped surprise demonetization, and we’re taking away the threat of being de-platformed for made up reasons. This is a shift which may in fact transform the creator economy.

Conclusion: Why Decentralized Social Media is important.

Decentralized social media is here to stay — we are seeing it as a solution to what users have had issues with in central networks. It is a freedom and control and ownership based alternative.

Is it a perfect picture? No. But as more people look for an alternative to the big social networks that run on algorithms, that push ads at you and also infringe on your privacy, what we are seeing is the rise of decentralized social media, which is becoming the new norm.

Community, engagement, and innovation.

As people become aware of the benefits of true digital ownership and freedom which decentralized social media brings, it is not a question of if it will happen — it is a question of when.