Decentralized Social Media: The Future of Internet and Data Privacy

Decentralized Social Media.

The decentralized social media platforms can leave behind the 2.0 era and enter into Web 3, a future where social media platforms connect to the blockchain, and users can have more privacy with their data.

It has been almost two decades since social media became the primordial tool for marketers and people to do business, engage, socialize, have fun, and so on. Social media platforms democratize media access to some extent, and with these tools in our hands, we all have a chance to compete for fame or success.

Nonetheless, there has always been a "contract" most of us, if not everybody, don't read, where basically, we give access to our data to all these social media companies.

Social media platforms are not "free" by themselves. Instead, they let you go into their platforms with the condition that they will evaluate your behavior with their algorithms to sell you the exact products and services you want.

While many keep using them without worry, there have been big scandals regarding data selling in other cases, and many more people are paying attention to whom they share their valuable information.

That's why decentralized social media platforms could solve all this debate, but what is behind it? What are their benefits? How could they affect marketers? Well, we will find out all the answers within this article.

Let's go right into it!

What is Decentralized Social Media?

Decentralized Social Media are networks that are not confined or belong to a single company but act as "independent hubs" within the blockchain ecosystem. Now, while living in separate hubs, this doesn't mean there is a frontier between them; users can send messages from every platform without restriction. To give you a concrete example, it is like sending a direct message from LinkedIn to Instagram, each social network belonging to a different company.

Now, the most exciting thing when it comes to data is that by not belonging to a single server and with the blockchain's ability to store data anywhere, it gives users greater security about their private information and everything they do on the internet, which is why it has caught the attention of several users. Examples of decentralized social networks include Odysee, Steemit, Threads, and Mastodon.

Going a little further about the advantages of this type of network, we can say:

• Avoid censorship
• Users own their data 
• Increased privacy and anonymity
• User content ownership
• User rewards and incentives
• Transparency 

Okay, great, everything seems nice with these rising social networks, but what is the deal with traditional social media? What is it with this supposedly centralization?

Keep reading to find out.

The Problem with Social Media Centralization

What is the problem? Well, let's check this out.

Have you seen how many social media platforms Marck Zuckerberg, with Meta, owns? Here is the list: Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and the "X" competitor, Threads. That's data in just one person, don't you think? But we can turn our heads to other companies. Google is the top 1 search engine, and Amazon has one of the most successful e-commerce platforms in the world and a streaming service. Ultimately, the problem is that a very select and small group of people have power over an enormous amount of data, and when you leave too much power to a few, things can get "tricky."

Now, data selling or leaking is not a minor thing; clear cases of this are the 2013 Yahoo hack that exposed the personal information of 3 billion users and the revelations by Edward Snowden about the NSA's mass surveillance program PRISM, which involved major tech companies, highlighted the vulnerabilities of a centralized internet infrastructure.

With all these red flags on the current social media "monopoly" situation, a new option comes into place with Web 3.0. This "new era" aims to create a safer internet environment with the help of blockchain technology. The idea of Web3 networks is that they are decentralized, which means no multi-millionaire company controls it. Instead, blockchain works as a network of nodes that users own operate, and work together to provide a seamless and secure experience.

The Problem with Social Media Centralization.

The Benefits of Decentralized Social Media

Until this point, we emphasized data protection and privacy as one of the key benefits of social media decentralization. Nonetheless, there is more about it to find out.

Security and Privacy

These social media operate on a peer-to-peer network, eliminating the need for a central company to control user data or interactions. Ultimately, this factor gives users more control over the content they share and which one they want to consume, meaning that algorithms won't place "recommended content" based on a random search a person could have made just out of curiosity or an accident.

Transparency

All data within the blockchain is stored in a public ledger, allowing users to see how they use their data.

Decentralization

When social networks belong to a small group, there is a greater possibility that they will use it for purely selfish or economic purposes. For example, people who violate network regulations can be censored in centralized networks. Now, we are not saying that those who damage the environment of a network should not be censored at all. This policy is correct; what is true is when this censorship or manipulation is connected to the ideological preferences of those who manage these media. Since a single entity does not control them, there can be a greater variety of opinions, which can sometimes be a double-edged sword.

Openness

Since decentralized social networks are open source, anyone can contribute to their development. As a result, this characteristic makes these platforms more secure than the traditional ones.

New Ways to Interact

With these newer networks, people can create virtual communities where users share interests or collaborate on projects. This is an excellent window of opportunity for new developments in the video game industry.

The Creation of New Forms of Monetization

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are two emerging technologies with the same goal: decentralizing the power of typical institutions.

Therefore, if the popularity of these decentralized platforms were to proliferate, this would likely be fertile ground for growth in favor of using different digital currencies.

How Decentralized Social Media Could Affect Businesses?

If you are a business owner, this whole topic of decentralization may stress you more than it relieves you. Ultimately, the data provided by social media analytics is "gasoline" for our marketing campaigns since it allows us to give the customer exactly what they want.

Even so, it is likely that some will feel outraged by this "exchange," and more and more people will want to retreat to networks where brands are not constantly evaluating them.

Whatever the outcome of this event, it is best to remain expectant and know how we can cope in these decentralized places.

Open up to Cryptocurrencies

The payment methods are countless at this point. We have Facebook Pay, Apple Pay, PayPal, biometric technologies, and the sea of cryptocurrencies that continue to emerge.

What happens if you don't have any of them enabled? Well, you have a group of lost clients, so the best thing you can do is educate yourself enough to include all the most popular ones in your business. If you want to learn more about it, read these tips on payment processing.

Focus on Organic Strategies for Communities

Since blockchain is such an open space and without centralized networks, it becomes more difficult for brands to create organic or paid ads that encompass their entire audience.

In this case, the best option will be to choose only 1 with enough potential to bring them all to her. This ultimately allows brands to create more quality content rather than focusing on one piece for each network separately.

More Disinformation

If centralized platforms already have too much fake news, you can imagine how much there will be if everything becomes "more free."

One of the problems that could come with the high freedom that users may have in centralized networks is that any number of people with a decent following could spread information that is not necessarily confirmed or that they may even have bad intentions in discrediting other brands or people.

In this case, Marketers will need to implement proactive frameworks for preventing misinformation/disinformation and extensive crisis communication plans to safeguard their brands.

To combat misinformation, brands must maneuver with an effective communication strategy so that accurate messages prevail over false ones.

Final Thoughts

The triumph of decentralized social networks against mainstream ones is an event that remains to be seen. Whatever the outcome, the best thing we can do is continue studying these new platforms to see how we can address them if social media takes another step towards Web 3.0.

Meanwhile, at Codedesign, we keep you informed of everything that happens around the fantastic world of digital marketing to help you provide information that gives you practical tools to continue moving your business forward. If you want more advice on your digital marketing strategy, contact our team of professionals.

FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions 

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