The Race To Build A Social Media Platform On The Blockchain

There's no doubt that Internet 2.0 has made connecting with family, colleagues, and friends easier. Social media sites such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and more built on Web 2.0 can help families who live in different locations and other people connect and update their lives via text messages, phone calls, and even video calls.

Various statistics indicate that more than 50% of the world's population uses Facebook, WhatsApp, and other social platforms. They have helped numerous users build their brands. Since its start, it has assisted many users in promoting their businesses, connecting with a broad range of individuals, gaining acclaim, and making money, among other things. But all these advantages come at the expense of something wonderful.

Social networking:What exactly is it? What is its difference from social media?

While social media and Web3 in social networking are frequently utilized interchangeably, they are distinct in their fundamentals. Social networking is about connecting and communicating with colleagues, friends, family, customers, or anyone else via internet-based social media websites. It creates an interactive space for personal and professional relationships to form an online network.

Social networking is used to achieve the following four purposes:

• Sharing: Familymembers who live in different locations or friends can communicate and share updates, photos, videos, and other information via social media platforms.
• Interacting with others: socialnetworking fosters an active community by breaking down boundaries of distance and time. Users can interact with each other not just through messages but also via video-based communication technology like WhatsApp.
• Learning: Socialmedia helps users get the latest information and updates from family and friends regularly. They also communicate information about their education or other activities that encourage learning.
• Marketing: Socialnetworking enables companies to promote their brand through advertising and connect with new and existing clients.

What is Web3 and what is its role in social networks?

Web 2.0 social media is centralized and offers little privacy to users and their data. It is controlled by tech giants with total control over user information. The users who make content on Web 2.0 social media sites do not have any authority over the content they create.

Tech giants who control social media platforms can remove any content they want without users' consent.

How do social networks on Web3 function?

Web3 social networking sites are based upon the same technology that powers Ethereum and another cryptocurrency, blockchain, a decentralized application (dApp) that stores indefinite amounts of information. Since they are based on blockchain social networks, Web3 is decentralized, making them classified as distributed applications (dApps).

DApps are powered by smart contracts, which function as social media applications' backends and establish their business processes. They are a peer-to-peer network that includes thousands of nodes worldwide. Even if one or more nodes fail, this will not disrupt the whole network. Therefore, the network can function without a hitch, which encourages failure-resistant applications.

Why are Web-based social media platforms important?

Web 2.0 social networks put a lot of users in danger, and Web 3 social networking could fundamentally alter how people interact and connect. Let's see how social networks built on Web3 are advantageous compared to internet 2.0 social networking.

Open source

The data in Web3 is on the decentralized, open, and unrestricted blockchain. No gatekeepers or censors can alter the API or restrict your access. Also, it eliminates the risk of project failure because developers don't have to rely on different protocols but can copy functions. But this isn't the case with Web 2.0 applications. Twitter is an example. Twitter has closed its API to stop developers from creating similar applications.

Interoperability

Although Web3 is only partially interoperable at present, it is slowly getting closer to the level of interoperability. Web3 aims to allow all blockchain silos to communicate with each other. It allows users of particular social media platforms to share data, content assets, data, and so on with different social media platforms and improve collaboration.

Free of spammers and bots

Web 2.0 social networks boast millions of accounts, but many are not authentic. Many of those accounts are fake or run by bots, also known as spammers. They can trick you into clicking the wrong link and gaining access to your data to steal your money or sell it to make huge profits. Web3 will protect your information in a secure manner where you control it. It is secure, and nobody else can access it unless you grant permission. Furthermore, blockchain technology facilitates the direct verification of identities and information, making it more difficult for fake accounts to appear.

Content owned by the user

In the Web 2.0 social network, when a user creates content, it's not owned by the user. The complete ownership of the content is with the platform's owners. Therefore, the content and posts you post on traditional social media sites can be removed at any time.

Web3's benefits in social networking

Web3 integration into social media could assist in removing social media issues and help create an entirely new environment. It offers the following advantages:

Stops the trend of viewing users as objects

Social media platforms such as Facebook aren't just social networks. The majority of social media platforms make use of the trust people have in their webservices. They misuse the information and data we give them when we sign up on the platform and then sell it to third-party advertisers to make substantial profits.

Web3 closes this social networking platform that uses users as an item. It focuses on its users' safety and security by eliminating central supervisors and replacing them with distributed nodes and storage networks.

More security

Since social media sites began collecting the social graphs of every user, the user's privacy has been at risk. Every user's data collected during registration and other information such as their friend list, the posts they are interested in, and the groups they follow are recorded to create their customized feed.

Better control of the content

The owners of social media platforms that are traditional control the social graphs created by their respective platforms. They monitor every user's comments, likes, and friends list, the groups they follow, and even their status in certain instances. These data are included in their social graphs to create a personalized user experience to ensure they can remain linked to the site and return more frequently.

Conclusion

Web3 is a social media platform that is a possible gateway to a decentralised future. It takes away the power that the technology giants of Web 2.0 hold over our data and puts the control back in the hands of the proper owners, namely, the users. Web users are no longer just a commodity. They have the right to control, own, and manage their data in developing this social platform. By incorporating various web3 components such as the digital ledger, the NFTs metaverse, cryptocurrencies, and many more, it provides new possibilities for content creators and users, extending social media reach.