{"id":154241,"date":"2020-10-07T16:59:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T13:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/facing-down-big-tech-how-blockchain-social-media-will-topple-zuckerberg\/"},"modified":"2020-10-07T16:59:27","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T13:59:27","slug":"facing-down-big-tech-how-blockchain-social-media-will-topple-zuckerberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/facing-down-big-tech-how-blockchain-social-media-will-topple-zuckerberg\/","title":{"rendered":"#Facing Down Big Tech: How Blockchain Social Media Will Topple Zuckerberg"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af085956ab36\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af085956ab36\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/facing-down-big-tech-how-blockchain-social-media-will-topple-zuckerberg\/#How_did_we_get_here\" >How did we get here?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/facing-down-big-tech-how-blockchain-social-media-will-topple-zuckerberg\/#Avoiding_data_breaches\" >Avoiding data breaches<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/facing-down-big-tech-how-blockchain-social-media-will-topple-zuckerberg\/#Eliminating_online_advertising_fraud\" >Eliminating online advertising fraud<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/facing-down-big-tech-how-blockchain-social-media-will-topple-zuckerberg\/#Transparent_rules\" >Transparent rules<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/facing-down-big-tech-how-blockchain-social-media-will-topple-zuckerberg\/#Preventing_censorship\" >Preventing censorship<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/facing-down-big-tech-how-blockchain-social-media-will-topple-zuckerberg\/#The_tech_is_not_quite_there_yet\" >The tech is not quite there yet<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/facing-down-big-tech-how-blockchain-social-media-will-topple-zuckerberg\/#Centralized_platforms_are_easier_to_use\" >Centralized platforms are easier to use<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/facing-down-big-tech-how-blockchain-social-media-will-topple-zuckerberg\/#So_should_Zuckerberg_be_worried\" >So, should Zuckerberg be worried?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Facing Down Big Tech: How Blockchain <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media<\/a> Will Topple Zuckerberg<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"float:right;margin:0 0 10px 15px;width:240px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Blockchain-Social-Media-Topple-Facebook-Zuckerberg-scaled.jpg\" class=\"type:primaryImage\"><\/p>\n<pre><code>                There\u2019s a growing realization that social media has become a destructive influence. But can blockchain social media platforms really make a difference?\n                &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=\"font-weight: 400\"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Big tech isn\u2019t just big anymore.&lt;\/strong&gt; It\u2019s grown into a ravenous Cthulhu-esque beast with its tentacles wr<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ed around almost every data point in our lives.&lt;\/span&gt;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But in the light of a House Judiciary report determining that \u201cFacebooks monopoly power is firmly entrenched and unlikely to be eroded by competitive pressure from new entrants or existing firms,\u201d can blockchain-based social media topple these social media powerhouses, given the unchecked power these giants wield over corporations and individuals? Even beginning to challenge the omnipotence of Facebook, Apple, and Google seems a daunting, nigh-impossible task.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yet, just as a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, many a revolution starts with a single voice before becoming a deafening chorus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The potential for blockchain-based <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">social platforms<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is unlimited, not least because its hard to find a more broken system than social media, thanks to the way weve allowed these networks to develop.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Social media has been designed to target the vulnerabilities of our psychology, damaging our wellbeing through an experience that is highly addictive, divisive and egocentric, sums up Eric Yang, the founder and executive director of blockchain social media platform <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Junto<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span>\u201cIts centralization has led to large security vulnerabilities and enables a small number of individuals to censor others and act as a single source of morality.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote align-center\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most significantly, our data is being aggregated at scale to fuel algorithms that are becoming increasingly precise at predicting and manipulating our behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_did_we_get_here\"><\/span>How did we get here?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We didnt realize early on that if youre not paying for the product, you <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">are<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the product. We should have, because our parents long ago warned us theres no such thing as a free lunch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But we fell further and further down the rabbit hole and came to love not having to pay for things online. From free <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> and social sites to file sharing, dating, and streaming, all we had to do was provide a little personal information to get a wealth of digital experiences back.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Free lunches became the norm. Content no longer had monetary value and no one even considered what was happening to their personal details as they flung them into cyberspace with wanton abandon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While we were busy sharing photos of our holidays and taking geography IQ challenges, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was making a fortune from our data. He sold our profiles to sophisticated data mining firms like Cambridge Analytica to manipulate our behavior and to influence the outcome of elections. It turned out that we were a lot more under the thumb of big tech (and Big Brother) than we previously thought.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The biggest social platforms are also some of the biggest data miners, routinely violating our privacy in order to sell more valuable ads, says Ankit Bhatia, the CEO and cofounder of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sapien<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Ethereum-based social network.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it\u2019s not only the tech companies misusing and abusing our data; there are ceaseless hacks and breaches spewing our sensitive information all over the internet. In 2019, some 300 million <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2019-12-19-facebook-data-exposed-online.html#:~:text=More%20than%20267%20million%20Facebook,and%20security%20researcher%20Bob%20Diachenko.&amp;text=In%20September%2C%20a%20security%20researcher,records%20tied%20to%20Facebook%20accounts.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Facebook users<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> had their phone numbers and names exposed online. Thats a ton of personal details floating out in the wild just waiting to be used in phishing attacks, social engineering, and other types of online fraud  and that\u2019s just one example.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It seems that constantly refilling our plates at the all-you-can-eat buffet of free content does carry a price tag after all.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Avoiding_data_breaches\"><\/span>Avoiding data breaches<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Blockchain-based social media can help avoid these all-too-common data breaches and leaks. Decentralized systems have no single point of failure in the way centralized servers do, which helps to keep sensitive information infinitely more secure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Blockchain architecture provides two things: decentralization and security, explains Saqib Ahmed Khan, digital marketing executive at <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pure<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> VPN<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Since social networks are centralized, there are risks of data breaches, DDoS attacks, and physical attacks. Decentralized architecture solves this issue as there is no single server managing the whole network, thats why the attack is almost impossible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But decentralization is good for a lot more than preventing DDoS attacks. Blockchain-based social media can chip away at the omnipotence of big tech by giving power back to the people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ignite.so<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is a decentralized microblogging platform that values freedom of speech and was designed to fight censorship. Co-founder Vladislavs Semjonovs says most of the issues with social media are caused by centralization. Blockchain <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> can benefit social networks with decentralized governance, transparency of every action, and clear usage of user-generated personal data, he says. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Juntos<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yang agrees that many problems can be traced back to an over-concentration of power. He claims that:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote align-center\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The centralization of big tech has won them ownership of our data and leaves high impact decision-making like algorithmic design, moderation, privacy practices, and revenue models both opaque and in the hands of a few.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Distributing this responsibility across many more actors through the technical architecture itself is one way to achieve more balance in our digital experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This need to seize back control from centralized entities is particularly timely right now in the light of the U.S. Congress Antitrust hearings held over the <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/07\/28\/technology\/amazon-apple-facebook-google-antitrust-hearing.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">questionable practices<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, which have already yielded the recommendation that Facebook be forced to undergo \u201cstructural separation\u201d  possibly including divesting itself of WhatsApp and Instagram<\/span><b>.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Decentralized platforms that are run by users and reward users could present a real alternative to multinational companies that prefer to <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theprint.in\/economy\/facebook-didnt-want-competition-so-it-just-bought-instagram-documents-show\/470914\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">buy the competition<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> rather than compete with them, and which insist on siphoning off 30% of the profit of every single app in their store.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Apple may have become the first public American company in history to hit a value of $2 trillion lately, but it\u2019s done so off this hefty imbalance of power tilted in its favor.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Eliminating_online_advertising_fraud\"><\/span>Eliminating online advertising fraud<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Centralized social media also has a major problem with fake accounts, bot traffic, and a slew of other fraudulent practices that cost advertisers some <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thedrum.com\/news\/2019\/06\/06\/cost-global-ad-fraud-could-top-30bn\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">$23 billion<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The way current social media platforms are set up is also \u201cdestroying local news and independent journalism,\u201d according to Salah Zalatimo, CEO of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Voice<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> tokenized social media platform.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cExisting platforms are leveraging inflated audiences to take away ad dollars and their opaque algorithms force news organizations to bend over backwards to try to reach audiences,\u201d he explains.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Voice doesn\u2019t pay its users to watch online ads like crypto-powered Brave browser, but it does provide transparency into how Voice tokens spent on advertising and promotion are used. This, according to the platform, means that \u201cpromotion and advertising on Voice are more engaging and less manipulative.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This transparency allows advertisers to obtain honest metrics about where their budget is being spent, eliminating the advertising fraud that is rampant elsewhere on the net. It also enables users to have some agency over how they are being targeted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Were building Voice to be social as it should be  Human-first: From the start, every user is a verified human (no bots, no burner accounts),\u201d he adds.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Transparent_rules\"><\/span>Transparent rules<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This notion of transparency is a common thread among blockchain based social media projects. At Sapien, Bhatia points out the technology allows them to eliminate the middleman between creators and audiences and enable direct payments, subscriptions, and more. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Deploying a smart contract means that the rules of exchange are absolute and transparent, unlike with mainstream social platforms which hoard most of the value and constantly move the goalposts for getting your due piece of that value.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">R<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ewarding content creators is a very different strategy to simply using them to generate likes and shares.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Zalatimo explains that the Voice community is empowered to self-govern, to launch communities, and to curate so that quality content rises above. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cCreators are rewarded, not exploited: Were a tokenized social media platform which means were creating a new content economy where creators are valued for the content and engagement they provide.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote align-center\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We are putting the power back in the hands of content creators  No opaque algorithms, no hidden agendas.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><b><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Junto has similarly lofty ambitions to put the focus back on people, rather than profits. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe hope to create a digital culture that inspires authenticity, deeper human connection, and positive mental health, Yang says. Were building on a distributed technology called Holochain, providing our members with ownership of their data and a censorship-free experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Preventing_censorship\"><\/span>Preventing censorship<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Content censorship is a fiery issue that frequently comes up for debate. The ongoing censorship of crypto-related content on YouTube, for example, has given rise to blockchain-based platforms such as <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">D.Tube<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a decentralized video platform, built on top of the STEEM blockchain that can neither censor videos nor enforce guidelines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ignite is built on the premise that \u201ceven unpopular opinions deserve to be heard,\u201d and Junto sees censorship as one of the key problems with existing platforms. Decentralization can defeat censorship  but come with the attendant problem that totally unmediated systems are ripe for abuse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earlier this month, for example, a 10-year-old Brazilian girl who was raped by her uncle, was stalked and <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2020\/aug\/17\/brazil-protest-abortion-recife-hospital\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">harassed online by religious extremists<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> who posted her personal details on Facebook and Twitter in an attempt to prevent her from having an abortion. A Court eventually ruled that the networks must remove her information  after she\u2019d already been forced to fly 900 miles to another clinic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s horrendous what has happened to that young girl in Brazil and Facebook and Twitter should have been more proactive from the start, instead of relying on a court to justify moderation, says Jonathan Goodwin of Sapien. This is yet another example of their lackluster content moderation standards and practices.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yang acknowledges that \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">theres certainly a real danger of malicious content\u201d but that ultimately, there is no way of stopping people from sharing what they want, when they want. \u201cCensoring content on specific platforms will simply push these individuals towards other pockets of the internet and opens up a host of other concerns,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Enabling any form of censorship from a centralized party opens the door for that power to be corrupted, and for us to rely on a small number of people to dictate what we can and cannot see. This has far more dangerous implications than allowing people to be fully free in their expression, whether we like what they say or not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He believes that a better solution is to create tools that allow individuals and communities to govern themselves. \u201cTo me, this form of distributed governance is the only way to achieve moderation at scale while respecting the differences and philosophies of all walks of life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Goodwin of Sapien agrees. A decentralized social platform would be built on self-moderating communities that could weed out malicious content, including doxxing, before it could take root in a given community, he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But, is it really workable in practice? Are all blockchain social media platforms following this model? And how exactly do these communities self-moderate? These questions still need to be answered as blockchain social media grows.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_tech_is_not_quite_there_yet\"><\/span>The tech is not quite there yet<b><br \/><\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While blockchain brings advantages, the tech is still in its infancy and its a long way from being<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> bullet-proof.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It may be totally impractical to launch a 51% attack against Bitcoin due to its enormous hashrate, but thats not the case for smaller blockchains. Take <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">LBRY<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a content sharing platform that enables users to publish material and get paid for doing so. Built on a PoW blockchain, a malicious actor could gain control of the network by renting hashing power for around <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crypto51.app\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">$100 an hour<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">T<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">hen there\u2019s the issue of scalability, which remains a challenge, particularly for those platforms built on Ethereum like Sapien. Reaching a Facebook-style user base of two billion people certainly isn\u2019t on the near or even mid-term horizon when 100,000 DeFi users can bring the network to its knees.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, while we\u2019ve moved way beyond the days of the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Parity hack<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, smart contracts are still only as smart as the human who wrote them. The possibility of data disasters isn\u2019t entirely obsolete with blockchain, especially if opportune hackers are dead set on taking a platform down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even once the technical problems have been solved, overcoming the network effects of current platforms like Facebook will still be a mammoth task. Blockchain security consultant and writer Reuben Jackson believes this is the biggest obstacle facing social Dapps.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite all of its brand issues, Facebook has ridiculous market share and recognition, he says. Everyone else, from Twitter to Instagram to Snapchat to LinkedIn and beyond, is small change compared to Facebook, but theyve all been at it for several years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Centralized_platforms_are_easier_to_use\"><\/span>Centralized platforms are easier to use<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Established platforms are currently faster, more convenient and user-friendly than decentralized alternatives. Users don\u2019t face a steep learning curve to educate themselves about private keys and Metamask just to hang out with a handful of users when the bulk of their friends are still on Instagram.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, as difficult as it is to hear, most users simply aren\u2019t as passionate about decentralization, or care as much about the abuse of their personal data, as the creators of these solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cSocial media users do not usually care about the issues addressed by these decentralized social media projects and\/or are often too lazy to spend time and effort to switch and use something more secure and fair, says Micha Szachno, a blockchain security expert<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">co-founder of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">VAIOT<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He doesnt believe blockchain social media will topple current platforms any time soon. Instead, he says:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote align-center\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The social media space needs a deal-breaker, something that will excite users and encourage them to make the change.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s interesting to ponder just what that deal-breaker would have to be, given that having our profiles scraped for data to manipulate us into taking unconscious actions hasnt yet sparked wholesale change.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"So_should_Zuckerberg_be_worried\"><\/span>So, should Zuckerberg be worried?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jackson says that Dtube, Steemit, and MeWe have shown impressive user growth momentum and sparked important conversations. \u201cBut if youre going after the big boys, then you need to offer more than simply being a YouTube clone that runs on distributed tech and isnt owned by Google, he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While many blockchain social media platforms have introduced innovative tokenized economies, there are still many battles to be won. Overcoming user apathy and educating people to care enough about their data and the abuses of big tech is probably the largest hurdle to overcome.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While the backlash against big tech and its monopolistic, opaque practices is growing, is it enough to topple Zuckerberg from his throne? Maybe not right now. It will probably take several years for blockchain social media to grab even a small proportion of the market share.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the world is changing fast and the optics are beginning to shift. With big tech now on the U.S. government\u2019s radar and growing awareness about the value of our personal data, there seems at least a glimmer of hope the oligopolies can break down just enough to allow for meaningful gains to be made by decentralized platforms.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It wasn\u2019t easy for David to take on Goliath armed with just a slingshot, yet we all know how that story turned out. Zuck may not be losing sleep over blockchain social media right now but you can bet he\u2019s paying attention.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/2020\/10\/07\/facing-down-big-tech-how-blockchain-social-media-will-topple-zuckerberg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Facing Down Big Tech: How Blockchain Social Media Will Topple Zuckerberg&#8221; There\u2019s a growing realization that social media has become a destructive influence. But can blockchain social media platforms really make a difference? &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&#8221;font-weight: 400&#8243;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Big tech isn\u2019t just big anymore.&lt;\/strong&gt; It\u2019s grown into a ravenous Cthulhu-esque beast with its tentacles wrapped around almost every&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":154242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Blockchain-Social-Media-Topple-Facebook-Zuckerberg-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}