SocialFi: The Platforms Paying You to Post
Billions of us share memes, messages, and moments on social media every day, but what do we have to show for it besides an unhealthy familiarity with celebrity gossip?
While social media giants like TikTok and Instagram have made billions off our data and engagement, the average user hasn't seen a dime. I'm not suggesting we all stop doom-scrolling (although that wouldn't be a bad option, either). But what if we could get paid for the hours we spend on social media instead of just getting served ads for products we talked about once?
The Players of SocialFi
Enter the world of SocialFi - where decentralized finance meets social media, and your posts can earn you more than just likes. Let's look at some of the platforms leading the charge.
DeSo: The Decentralized Social Blockchain
DeSo, short for “Decentralized Social,” is a Layer 1 blockchain built from the ground up to scale decentralized social applications to one billion users. DeSo is attempting to solve the problems plaguing existing blockchains like Ethereum that simply weren't designed to handle the storage and indexing requirements for social media at scale.
With a unique consensus mechanism transitioning from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake, DeSo enables lightning-fast social interactions, supporting sub-second posting and liking. The platform has already powered revolutionary features like on-chain end-to-end encrypted DMs, NFT auctions, social tipping via Diamonds, and decentralized identity.
Some notable projects in the DeSo ecosystem include Diamond, a censorship-resistant social app with a full suite of social features, and BitClout, an earlier social platform.
Steemit: The OG of Decentralized Blogging
Before DeSo, there was Steemit. Launched in 2016, Steemit is a decentralized blogging and social media platform built on the Steem blockchain. Steemit rewards bloggers and content creators with the STEEM token when their posts receive upvotes, essentially letting you earn crypto for creating quality content.
As one of the first decentralized social platforms, Steemit pioneered the model of user-generated content being rewarded directly by the community. While newer platforms may have shinier features, Steemit remains an OG in the SocialFi space.
Galxe: Web3 Credentials & On-Chain Reputation
Galxe is pioneering on-chain credentials and reputation with their Galxe Passport - a digital identity that securely stores your info and lets you use it across Web3 apps with privacy protection. They also have an on-chain Web3 reputation score - Galxe Score - shaped by your achievements, expertise, and assets.
Their Galxe Quest loyalty platform connects projects with millions of users through reward-based campaigns. And their Galxe Compass hub lets you explore airdrops across the metaverse.
Lens Protocol: Decentralized Social Graph
Lens Protocol is a decentralized social graph built on Polygon. It allows developers to build decentralized social media applications without starting from scratch. With Lens, users truly own their content, as posts are published through the user's NFT profile.
Lens aims to solve a core problem in SocialFi - the lack of portability and interoperability between social platforms. By creating a unified, open social graph, Lens enables social data to become platform-agnostic, paving the way for a more interconnected, user-centric social media landscape.
The next step: Interoperable open worlds
While current SocialFi projects offer glimpses into a user-owned future, the space is still fragmented - each platform an isolated island. What's missing is a unified, interoperable SocialFi layer for open metaverse worlds.
Imagine an open, decentralized social graph you can take with you across different virtual worlds and games. A cross-world social identity complete with your on-chain credentials, achievements, and assets. Seamless social discovery and frictionless friend-finding across the metaverse.
Essentially, we need a "social layer" for the open metaverse - decentralized infrastructure to empower users to own their identity, reputation, and relationships as they navigate virtual worlds.
A unified social space for open worlds with the scalability of DeSo, the identity and reputation primitives of Galxe and Lens Protocol, and bridges to major blockchains and metaverse platforms.
This is the unfulfilled promise of SocialFi - not just user-monetized social media platforms, but an open, interoperable social protocol for the metaverse. Once unlocked, it will turn isolated worlds into an interconnected and social web3 reality with billions of users and unimaginable network effects. But even for now, SocialFi is reimagining the way we interact with social media, turning our posts and engagements into potential profit.