Blockchain is a social technology. It relies on networks of individuals or nodes from around the world to transmit information, which is then recorded on append-only blocks. That is the basic sense in which blockchain is a social technology, i.e., it is distributed. But as we have seen, blockchain is also social in the sense that it is applied to different systems of technology-assisted social interaction. For example, blockchain today is most often associated with decentralized finance, or DeFi, which on some level is a system of social interaction.
Because of the distributed, append-only, and almost universally applicable nature of blockchain, it is frequently argued that it has the potential to revolutionize our approach to databases and distributed applications and computing. This of course means that the social interactions built around these mechanisms will be revolutionized as well.
Indeed, blockchain has even shown a possibility which strikes at the very nexus of distributed social applications through the advent of decentralized social media platforms. Decentralized social media, or DeSoc, is a model for social media that relies upon or is largely supported by, blockchain technology. Like DeFi, DeSoc aims to decentralize its core elements and functions, thereby eliminating its dependence on a centralized intermediary.
The features of a DeSoc platform are in full technological and philosophical harmony with its sister applications in DeFi. In this sense, DeSoc could be seen as a subset of the emergent class of all decentralized products, and it is likewise a revolutionary concept. From a user- interface and experience standpoint, however, DeSoc platforms can be made virtually identical to those of legacy social media. In other words, there need not be any discrepancies in usability or familiarity. And while the full scope and implications of blockchain integration through DeSoc are hardly fathomed, as a model, it is already distinct from legacy social media in some important ways:
- Storing user data and passwords on a central server is unnecessary. Instead, users are able to log in using their blockchain wallets, similar to how one connects to exchange. By placing login credentials exclusively in the hands of the users, the security and privacy vulnerabilities of centralized data storage are all but eliminated, and as a result, both accounts and their users are more private and more secure.
- Content moderation is non-arbitrary, organic, and can be overseen by users. With the advent of decentralized moderation protocols, objectionable content and even community guidelines themselves can be adjudicated through anonymous consensus, with randomly selected, voluntary tribunals of users who are verified on-chain as real, active members of their respective communities.
- The business model of social media, a model built on opaque data policies, user surveillance, and content ranking algorithms to optimize for engagement and user addiction, need no longer reign supreme. DeSoc platforms, by contrast, are able to deploy blockchain-based solutions for revenue such as platform-integrated cryptoassets, marketplaces, and non-fungible tokens. Hence, DeSoc does not share in the existential prerogative of legacy social media to monetize its users’ data and attention. Instead, data and attention in DeSoc are given voluntarily: data policies are transparent, and content ranking algorithms are optional.
DeSoc platforms are not subject to many of the same problems of legacy social media, such as its centralized storage of user data, its arbitrary and manipulative content moderation schemas, and its predatory business model. As a social technology, DeSoc invites us to consider which aspects of social media are good and useful for humanity, and which parts are bad and harmful. So not only is DeSoc a viable and humane direction for social media, but perhaps a necessary one as well.
