While the internet becomes inseparable to daily activities of people, internet safety is involved in a huge "distrust" conflict among major controversies of the world. After Facebook analytica scandal, social media seems no longer trustworthy as in personal data protection. Eventually every single click visitors made on website, has been collected and sent to the site owners, and to be used in commercials and any other possible purposes. The situation gets worse in China, for example. Most Chinese internet users averagely receive at least 2 commercial spam calls a day once they left phone numbers on internet.
The major social media platforms more likely concern a pyramid sandbox where the administrators are able to hand on all users' privacy contained in there, including personal identity, phone, address and locations. At the way of use, the information is no doubtfully sold to other companies for advertisement and marketing research. An obvious phenomenon showing how the hid business functions - most websites track users' cookies to deliver ads highlighting familiar to visitors previous searches and views. Is the internet no longer safe?
Humans are smart as we always can find a way out. Blockchain technology was introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto as early as when financial crisis occurred in 2008. It systematically features distribution, encryption, traceable sources and immutable records, thus to be considered one of applicable solutions to users' data protection issues, by distributing administrative access and encoding users' information. It isn't a fresh idea. However, the current biggest challenge has to be monetary liquidation. The blockchain based platform is impossible to load up incomes through the data liquidation lead to undergo low competition strength and slightly profitable business, unpleasantly whereas the business and the relevant are the main resources of centralized social media companies' incomes.
"Facebook had around 230 million users in America in January 2018. Multiplying the number of American users to the earlier calculated data value that was in the range of $0.20 to $0.40 per individual leads to a range of $46 million to $92 million that Facebook may potentially generate from "selling" such data points of American users." said Investopedia.
Many blockchain social medias seek into such as Bitcoin cryptocurrency and Litecoin marketplace bypass the "centralized" profiting pattern. Most of them share the half of self-branded tokens with the users (participants) and carry the rest on hold. Steemit, for instance, then maintains the Steem price valuated in cash at high position as to gain the monetary value of owned token assets. Also to release tokens, the company could save enormous costs on marketing and operating what necessary to enlarge user adoption rate. Actually, the users usually are awarded Steem coin from likes and activities to trade on steem exchange to complete monetary liquidation, meanwhile the pattern turns out a convenience for internet influencers also to facilitate the liquidation progress of internet marketing.
By the flowing trend of Bitcoin price, blockchain gradually becomes a symbolical thread on internet. Blockchain just steps right at the springboard as well as decentralized social medias. The blockchain-based social medias, nevertheless will confront a big challenge in near future that to remain the platforms in neutral from monetary preference, in my opinion. But it moves forward eternally.