Trust in social media platforms is at staggering low numbers. Studies have shown that millennials in particular trust what they see on social networks at numbers as low as 17%. Why is this? What has gone so wrong on traditional social networks that we now have platforms where almost nothing is trusted, and users are dissatisfied?
Let’s look at the problem and see if there is a solution.
The Problem
We have covered some of the many errors and missteps Web2 platforms have made that have damaged the way users feel about centralized platforms. You can read some of the examples here, but what all of the problems come down to is the fact that Web2 platforms see users as a product, not a partner.
Users are subjected to countless practices that aim to exploit them for the financial gain of the platforms. Some of these are using 2FA phone number data not for security, but for advertising. Or the practice of building algorithms to exploit users’ emotions to push more ads at them. How is someone supposed to trust any social network after they have repeatedly treated users as products, and even worse, sometimes lied about doing so?
Now, if you’re a creator you not only face the same problems that users have, but now you have a whole host of further issues that Web2 social networks have been limiting you with.
First, you have unfair terms for which the platforms take a huge portion of your revenue. Some might think giving up 30-50% of your revenue isn’t such a big deal. Web2 platforms might defend themselves by arguing that they built and monitor the platform that makes the creator money. However, this type of extortion has only been accepted because of the lack of alternatives. If you are a creator not only do you have a tax that the platform takes, but often you have taxes governments take, and no control over your financial success.
Then to add insult to injury, creators have been subject to baseless and sometimes targeted acts of de-platforming. Yes, egregious content should be removed, but why is it that one central entity gets to decide this? The inconsistency of content moderation leaves content creators in a position where they cannot trust the platform to be clear and consistent with what is allowed and what isn’t.
Even if content is not removed outright by the platform, creators might be subject to limited revenue on their content. This in no way reflects the value that users find from their content, but only shows how the platform feels about certain topics.
How are both users and creators supposed to trust platforms that are is selective with their treatment of them? By leaving all the power in the hands of a few centralized individuals, social networks have become infected with malpractice that has obliterated the trust that users and creators had with them.
How to fix it?
We’ve already covered how social networks are broken, and yes, they can be fixed. However, when it comes to trust, you can’t just provide an alternative and expect things to be repaired. The whole idea of social media is stained with lies by the platform and backdoor manipulation. This problem started with Web2 and hopefully will be solved by Web3. Solcial aims to rebuild the user/creator relationship with social networks by basing the experience around the user. The revenue model is clear and promotes healthy interactions that make profits for all parties involved (users, creators, and the platform).
Solcial also gives users control over how content is moderated. This means the rules are clear, the platform needs a super-majority to remove content, and with the development of our P2P network (which will be released in later versions), content will be fully censorship-resistant even if the masses feel it should be unpinned from the UI of Solcial. If you want to learn more about our censorship resistance, and future P2P network, please read this blog.
In short, Solcial is not only transparent with users as to how the platform will work, but we are also powerless as a central organization. Unlike Web2 platforms which lie and commit manipulative acts behind the scenes, we as a platform will not even have the ability to alter the network once fully deployed.
If you want to rebuild trust in social networks, you need to first get rid of the need to trust the network itself.
About Solcial
Solcial is a permissionless social network that gives users the power of web3 by allowing people to interact with each other without fearing censorship, and allowing content creators to be rewarded fairly at market value.
Get in Touch
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Blog: http://blog.solcial.io/
Website: https://solcial.io
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