Hello folks!
In this blog I would like to talk about Sphere, a social network I recently heard of and would like to take the time to review. The idea of joining steemit was to get rewarded for posting our content, something we do not get on a centralized social network platform. The infamous ones, we all know who they are! And of course to have our content stored directly on the blockchain. The goal behind Sphere is to become the new, private, and secure social media platform that offers an integrated, decentralized market, complete with it's own advertising platform. So not only are you able to interact with friends and loved ones, you will also be able to run your business on it. But before we get into that, let's look into some other details.
In case you didn't know, centralized social media platforms make billions off our data, the same companies we trust to guard our privacy. Every time you click on the mouse it's as if you're putting money in their pockets. They don't charge you a thing to use their services, so how exactly do they make so much money? Easy, it's called traffic. There are so many ways they can leverage this and we as everyday users essentially help these platforms drive traffic straight to them . They make money of it and we get nothing in return. You're basically working for free. With a social network like Sphere that will not be the case. You are the owner of you data/content and you should profit from it. Why should these companies profit from data that was never theirs in the first place?? Doesn't make sense!!
However, what really caught my eye is that Sphere are implementing a new advertising method. They specify that our current ways are old and outdated and once again the blockchain is here to give us a better way. Businesses spend a lot of money on advertising and more often than not most of that money goes to waste. Picture an ad campaign that just keeps spamming via sending emails for one, more often than not those email end up in the spam/junk folder and rightly so, as there are so many spammers out there sending junk all the time. When you pay to attract your desired audience, it usually costs a lot of money, and most of the time what you really get is views/clicks. No real interaction with your prospects, it's also almost as if you're setting a bunch of mouse traps then wait and see what sticks. Yet many advertisers still use these methods, charging unrealistic rates for a procedure that fails most of the time.
In direct response to this ever-expanding problem, Sphere has set out to reduce the need for such intermediaries while increasing companies’ ability to directly reach their desired target audience. Utilizing Sphere’s innovative method of allowing businesses to target consumers directly, both sides stand to gain. On the consumers’ side, we see an increase in privacy as their browsing habits are no longer sold to the highest bidder for the potential to earn profits for the very same browsing data. Companies benefit from truly knowing that their marketing campaigns are reaching their desired audience more effectively, cutting down on the cost of marketing. If they can pull this off I see many aspiring entrepreneurs using the Sphere platform to advertise their business, without having centralized companies benefiting from their work.
The Sphere platform currently has there token on presale and it's called Social Activity Token or in short (SAT). They accept BTC, LTC, Dogecoin Paypal and several credit cards to purchase the tokens, you can also get up to 70% depending on how many you buy. I'm guessing this will only apply during presale which I reckon will not last very long. You will be able to use your SATs as a medium of exchange in the plaform. Whether you will get rewarded in SATs for posting your content is something I'm unsure of but I have no doubt they will give us more info about this during the ICO.
A total of 75% of available tokens will be made accessible to buyers through the ICO. We’ve reserved 2% of all tokens for our team and advisory staff. Another 15% will go to expand the social network. 8% will go to the company for operating purposes.
The Sphere team will have an opportunity to obtain tokens through a buy-back option. This is done to help increase the price of SATs when the token is first introduced on the exchange. At the Initial Coin Offering, 20 SAT = 1 USD. 2,000,000,000 tokens will be created. Should tokens go unsold, they will be destroyed. They will also offer a Visa/debit card so you can spend you SATs for fiat currency anywhere in the world. Hopefully more detail gets added about this card during the ICO.
Another thing I wanna add is another way to acquire SATs is through a referral. You send your referral link, that person opens an account, he/she gets 100 SATs for free, just for opening an account. As a reward you will also get 100 SATs just for using word of mouth to promote the project. Rinse and repeat this tactic, you can acquire 1000 SATs just for referring 10 people you know. The last thing I wanna add, should the project not be successful, they will refund your money used to purchase tokens. Something I like very much as many ICO developers vanish with your money if their project proves to be unsuccessful.
So that's all I have for now folks. Now if you wish to acquire some free SATs, simply go to my referral link, create an account and you will instantly get 100 free tokens. https://sphere.social/?ref_code=5309-61065d2f
Hope this article was helpful, please feel free to comment and as always do your own due diligence.
P.S: The app for the Sphere social network is available on google play, coming soon for IOS. Download it and take it for a spin!