This is my sixth comprehensive review of blockchain social media platforms meant to give you the most thorough resource and reference for finding the next best platforms to use! In this review, I cover about 223 social media platforms that either are integrated with a blockchain to some degree, have crypto-monetized rewards, or at the very least promote free speech and are distributed or decentralized in some way.
This review below will mainly attempt to focus on cryptocurrency-monetized and blockchain-integrated social media platforms.
YouTube: YouTube Link
Odysee: Odysee Link
Due to the length of this being about 17,000 words spanning 35 pages in a word document most blogs cannot support all of it. I had to cut a lot out for this. If you really want to see the full 35-page review even just for reference to the links for every website you can download or view the PDF listed below online.
Content Hosting Links:
You can find the other copies of this article on these platforms below.
Read.Cash: https://read.cash/@scottcbusiness/comprehensive-crypto-blockchain-social-media-platforms-review-vi-f5ef8454
Medium: https://scottcbusiness.medium.com/comprehensive-crypto-blockchain-social-media-platforms-review-vi-93251e0c1712
Publish0x: https://www.publish0x.com/at-scottcbusiness/comprehensive-crypto-and-blockchain-social-media-platforms-r-xmyjlyg
You can get the full PDF given that some platforms cannot host this much text.
PDF Download: https://pdfhost.io/v/zZLY.Qr~u_Blockchain_social_Platform_Review_Version_6
Video Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
04:00 Decentralization Matrix
07:15 Disclaimers & Prefacing My Review
11:27 Previously Not Recommended Categories
14:03 Avoid These Platforms!
19:41 Platforms Not Recommended Anymore
25:05 New Platforms Not Recommended
40:05 Platforms That Need Improvement
50:58 Tertiary Platform Recommendations
1:00:56 Secondary Platform Recommendations
1:10:19 Primary Recommendation – Hive
1:14:21 Conclusion & Summary
1:21:50 Outro
Dapp Directories:
Check these out. There are many chains I did not dive into and many apps not worth reviewing. Keep in mind most apps on Steem or Hive for example, are just interfaces and not different platforms so it is not necessary to explore every single one.
App.co - https://app.co/
DappsRadar – https://dappradar.com
DappReview - https://dapp.review/
Dapp.com - https://www.dapp.com/
StateOfDapps – https://www.stateofthedapps.com
The Review:
This will be covering some new platforms not covered in the previous but re-reviewing any applications or websites that were not to par but were not awful from the last review. I will very briefly double-check the awful ones and either add them here if they have improved or not include them given, they were in the last one and you do not need to see the same thing twice.
In the video itself, I go through some of the main recommendations I give and the platforms that I am currently using. I only go through some brief examples of ones not recommended for sake of time and to give some insight as to how I came to my decisions.
My final disclaimer is that I am here to share my recommendations and recommendations against them. I will not be explaining how every platform works or giving solutions to their problems.
Tertiary Recommendations (4):
If you have extra time to post somewhere, you might as well sign up on these platforms and explore them a bit.
JoshWhoTv – This platform has made many improvements and while it is the best for crypto, it is particularly good for censorship resistance and content distribution. I do not get many views on here, but it is worth considering. - https://www.joshwhotv.com
LBRY/Odysee – this is a great project and while I have a ton of criticisms for them, it is still better than most platforms in terms of decentralization. They do a lot wrong.
They do have to approve you to earn LBC rewards and you do have to pay LBC to post content. So, for beginners, you need to pay to get started and monetization is on the way out. This also shows that they have full control over monetization and governance of the blockchain making it fairly centralized in that regard. They are decentralized in terms of content moderation and content hosting, however, there are issues there too. If the content is banned from Odysee, 99% of people will not see it. Even multiple alternative platforms still require you to seed or pay for content to be hosted. While people could still seed content or you could spin up own server, that is not realistic for people to do and thus the result is that 99% of the users using this platform are going through a very centralized experience.
People will argue that Odysee and the LBRY dapp are quite different but from a user experience perspective, they are the same. LBRY is the protocol and is different from all of this, but regardless, the platform experience is getting worse.
You can use my invite link to join - https://lbry.tv/$/invite/@ScottCBusiness:4
Bastyon – Bastyon is a great platform that was originally called Pocketnet. They use the PKOIN cryptocurrency to give out rewards and offer boosting. You can also use their decentralized application to access it too. While the rewards are low, it is good for moderation and decentralization. While it could be improved, it is an up-and-coming platform that could grow a lot in the future with some more momentum. - https://bastyon.com/
Publish0x – I have really enjoyed using Publish0x. It is a great blogging platform that is like the likes of Medium or Read.cash. One of the main draws is that it is crypto-agnostic, so you have opportunities to earn various cryptocurrencies without being concerned about the platform’s value or longevity being tied to a certain coin. The biggest issue they have is how centralized it is where they must approve authors and now, I am earning less and less on there. They are also limited by using Ethereum tokens for payouts, but it is still worth using if you like writing and want something like a crypto-monetized Medium. - https://www.publish0x.com/?a=gl9avjgaG1
Secondary Recommendations (6)
These are platforms that are solid but lack a few things to be able to get a full primary recommendation. I still highly recommend using all of these if you have the time and capacity to do so.
Serey – I almost never recommend platforms that require a download, but this only requires you to download their wallet. You can still use the platform without controlling or claiming your cryptocurrency rewards. It is a Hive clone and while the user interface is not the best, it is worth trying out. - https://serey.io/
COS.TV – COS.tv is a cool video platform that has been paying me increasingly lately. Unfortunately, it is not being traded on as many markets, so it is harder to cash out. Some issues with the platform are the centralization around content approvals, requiring you to use a phone and massive amounts of spam comments. They also use Theta for their videos which I have criticized for centralization many times. It is still a good platform worth using, they just need to focus more on decentralization and values commonly associated with blockchain. - https://cos.tv/account/register?invite_code=GJLPA
Blurt Blog – Blurt is another Hive clone like Serey or the previous Weku and Whaleshares. The major difference is the removal of downvotes, but also opens the door for more spam. To deal with this they do have centralized moderation which I’m not a huge fan of, but that is the route they went with. You can’t get a free account on the main site but you can claim one by going to https://joinblurt.com/ or https://blurtcreator.intinte.org/. Also, there are fees for everything which is meant to disincentivize spam and the fees are burnt. It has exceptionally low liquidity which poses a risk if the one or two ways to sell were dropped and you are stuck holding the bag. One last gripe I have is if you have a big article and want to update it, they charge you a lot of Blurt to do so. To update this article cost me 13 Blurt and then 19 Blurt. It's a great platform and worth a try. - https://blurt.blog/
Brave Browser (Rewards & Creator Program) – I include this as more of a tool to use, originally writing “earn crypto for allowing ads to display on your more secure and faster browser” - https://brave.com/sco556 but they have evolved well beyond that with their various projects, marketplace, and creator program that allows for creators to sign up to earn money via tips, grants, or through ads that might have otherwise been blocked. While it is not a social platform per se, it is integrated into the social experience and extremely easy to use. I have been earning a good amount from BAT rewards and creator rewards and I am happy with the experience. - https://brave.com/
Read.Cash & Noise Cash – Read.cash has been a blast to use. It is like Publish0x or Medium but much more open and with few limitations. They reward you with Bitcoin Cash that you can withdraw without restrictions and even connect you to Sideshift if you want to be paid in something else. It is not actually integrated with the blockchain, but you can boost your content, earn from sponsorships, and enjoy the platform in a decentralized way regarding moderation, etc. Since it is not actually integrated into the blockchain though, it is not decentralized like how Hive is. You also must consider that the rewards given out were funded by donations from Marc De Mesel and while they used to be public and transparent, we do not know how much is left and when rewards may end. The team is also not public facing nor using the platform anymore so there is no development or communications from them. The main issue now is that they could shut down at a moment’s notice. - https://read.cash/r/scottcbusiness
This also counts as two recommendations because you can use Noise.cash as the place to share short status posts rather than on Read.Cash. You can still post status posts on both though. This is a beta that was put out by their team to test this out and it is worth checking out even though it is bare bones. You can just link it to your read.cash account and automatically earn your rewards in that wallet. - https://noise.cash/u/scottcbusiness
DTube – DTube has its own chain and allows you to post to Hive, Steem, and Blurt all at the same time which is very ideal since most blockchain platforms do not have to crosspost. I would recommend it as a primary recommendation, but the trading and liquidity are so low that you could have trouble with getting or selling DTC as well as the price volatility that comes with that. There are also regular issues with the upload process, but they do offer you many methods, so you can always revert to importing videos from a legacy platform if you need to. Lastly, there are too few leaders (witnesses) who run the nodes. There’s 20/20 meaning that there is no way to vote for someone new because there is no one new to vote for. If they can get more people trading DTC, fix their upload issues, and decentralize more, it would be a top recommendation. - https://d.tube/
Primary Recommendation (1):
Hive is the best platform based on profitability, monetization, decentralization, and blockchain integration. While many platforms are great, Hive does the most to respect and build upon the values associated with the blockchain ethos.
Hive – This is my alternative to Medium / Reddit / Facebook. Hive is the hard-forked version of Steem and hosts a massive number of decentralized applications (dapps) that I use regularly. It is complex, but if you understand Steem, then it is the same thing. It is extremely decentralized, everything for your account is owned by you and uncensorable. Moderation is done by the community, but you are never actually “banned” or “censored,” instead your content won’t appear on the feed after enough negative votes on your content to deal with spam, etc. I stopped using Leofinance as my go-to community due to extremely low earnings and now mainly just post to the Threespeak community. Communities are like subreddits within the platform where you can earn tokens from that community and get more visibility for your content within certain communities.
This counts as multiple recommendations as I am recommending the network Hive, PeakD as my main interface, and 3Speak for video. - @scottcbusiness/posts
3Speak – This is my go-to video hosting platform for Hive. While you can post any video content on PeakD or whatever blogging interface you choose to use, uploading your videos on 3Speak are a wonderful way to fully integrate with the blockchain and utilize IPFS. - https://3speak.co/
Conclusion:
A lot has changed in the world of blockchain social since my last review 2 years ago. I have been posting a lot less and unfortunately earning a lot less as well. While I made about $25,000, there has been a steep decline in recent months. I have been posting less too, but there is a clear decline in rewards offered and naturally the value of those rewards due to market conditions. While Hive is not perfect, it is by far the best blockchain to host dapps.
While I understand Hive itself is not a social dapp and all the dapps on it are separate, it is much easier to recommend Hive as a whole. It checks off more things I am looking for than any other platform. I have moved everything else to secondary recommendations. DTube is great, but it has technical issues the most often, Read.cash is anonymous and funded by donations so it could shut down at any time.
I have decided to recommend Blurt & Serey because most Hive clones are good places to earn and have a similar decentralized ecosystem. While Cos.TV is the most centralized and must approve videos, it is still a good place to earn crypto. Odysee/LBRY has completely fallen off in terms of rewards and the platform in general, but they could improve given they have total control over governance. Bastyon is a great platform, but you do not earn very much there. Publish0x requires approval for new authors which I never really supported, and the earnings are falling off due to low value.
There is still a lot of hope for crypto social and what is possible in the future. Just lately I started using Actifit more on Hive where I can track and get rewarded for my exercise. Blockchain social and crypto-monetized platforms have taught us that everything we do has value and can be monetized in some way. While my earnings are down, I have proven that you can do this as a side hustle or supplementarily to the content you already create or have created.
A consistent theme I have noticed with platforms is more are opting into centralized services like Gmail logins, KYC verification, phone verification, requiring you to use a credit card, etc. I have also not been a fan of applications that only work on mobile as they are at the mercy of app stores like Apple and Google. There is also a growing trend where platforms are rebranding into mostly NFT marketplaces and trying to cash in on NFTs rather than growing and working on their platforms.
For my tertiary, secondary, and primary recommendations, I have written and recorded guides and tutorials for several of these platforms as well as doing interviews with their founders or executive team members. I have also done many breakdowns on frauds and the platform I recommend you avoid. To keep the word count down and make this not any larger a file than it needs to be, I will not include those links, but do consider looking through my content to find all of that.
It is worth reviewing my decentralization matrix episode to get more insight into where these platforms fall in terms of how decentralized or centralized, they are. This is a handful of platforms ranked on how decentralized they are based on many questions. This is the latest update:
These are the questions I refer to when reviewing content:
- Can anyone monetize?
- Is there a KYC process?
- Are the tokenomics of the system sustainable?
- Do they have a terms and conditions?
- Do they have something like a “we always still retain the right to ban you” clause?
- Do they sell premium features
- Are they payable without KYC?
- Are there “back-doors” or super administrative users that could log into or manipulate a user’s account in some way?
- What is the initial token distribution/was there a pre-mine or ninja-mine?
- What is the ratio of tokens staked vs liquid tokens? How many people are staking?
- Number of core developers?
- Can you self-host content and or utilize peer to peer technology?
- Number of decentralized application (dapp) developers?
- Can anyone post content and participate? (Is it invite-only)
- Can anyone develop third party applications/tools/services for the platform?
- How challenging/easy is it to fork or clone?
- How is privacy handled?
- Is it open source?
- How concentrated is the wealth of the ecosystem?
- Is their cryptocurrency an actual cryptocurrency?
- Does it support and uphold free speech?
- How are moderation and censorship cases handled?
- Do they go after copyrighted material?
- Is the governance decentralized?
- Is it a DAO?
- Is there a company and or CEO behind the project?
- Is voting transparent while also protecting privacy?
- Is there anything protecting the governance model from an attack?
- Does the project use and integrate with a blockchain?
- How many nodes are there?
- How distributed are the nodes?
- What is the barrier of entry to start a node?
- Are they incentivized fairly without over concentrating wealth to the top nodes?
- Does it use Amazon Web Services, Google, Cloudflare, or another service that could create a single point of failure?
- How many of these factors are trustless versus policies/promises?
There is no perfect platform and they each offer their own unique benefits. Follow along with my monthly reports to see how much I am earning on each platform and gain some insight into how I have performed on each in terms of engagements, followers, impressions, views, and comments.
I use many platforms and if you are curious to see what I am currently using the most, check out my monthly reports on crypto earnings and social metrics to keep up with what I use and how well these platforms have been progressing, the earnings you can get, and how I’ve performed on them.
If you feel I made a mistake, poorly reviewed something, or missed a key platform to review, please comment below and I will take your feedback in and edit this to include it or edit my post accordingly. I really hope this benefits you as much as I hope it does. This took me an exceptionally long time. Please share this with others if you believe they will find use in it too! For some, I explained my reasoning more than others. If you are interested, you can inquire about anything, and I will get more in-depth on it even making a video if needed. Let me know what you think about all this in the comments below.
This was the last review:
Read.Cash: https://read.cash/@scottcbusiness/comprehensive-blockchain-social-media-platforms-review-v-633ef26d
What review or guide would you like me to do next? What is your favorite platform? Where are you spending most of your time? Where are you earning the most? Let me know what you think about this in the comments below and do not forget to subscribe!
Disclaimer: This is not financial advice and is purely for entertainment purposes. What you see, hear, or read is my opinion, and any statements made are based on my views and should not be misconstrued as fact. My crypto portfolio may or may not be simulated
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