In-depth understanding of decentralized social products Deso and their possible future
How will decentralized social products impact the future of social media?Original Title: A Deep Dive Into DeSo
Author: Kadeem Clarke
Compiled by: Shenchao TechFlow
Social media has changed the way we communicate, but not everyone believes these changes are always positive. Many social media platforms have been criticized for not adequately moderating content, leading to the spread of misinformation.
People are frustrated with how social media handles censorship, privacy, user control, data theft, and sharing. For example, Facebook and Instagram have faced lawsuits for undermining user trust.
More than 4 billion people, or over half of the world's population, use social media. On average, internet users spend 2.5 hours per day on social media.
Data breaches are a common issue on social media. Your personal information could quickly appear on an illegal website. The 2021 Facebook leak is just one example—over 533 million users' information was exposed. LinkedIn has faced similar issues.
While big tech policies are still being updated, decentralized social media may provide a solution.
DeSo is a decentralized social network that not only allows users to access the features of most Web 2.0 social media platforms but also improves upon them by giving users control over their content and monetization options.
The native cryptocurrency of the Decentralized Social blockchain is $DESO. This unique Layer 1 blockchain is open-source and designed to support and scale social media applications that require large amounts of data.
The Beginning of DeSo
Former Google software engineer Nader Al-Naji founded Decentralized Social. His commitment to decentralized social media earned him the nickname "Facebook Killer."
In May 2019, BitClout began working on a decentralized social blockchain. Additionally, BitClout established the DeSo Foundation to help decentralize social media and blockchain development.
Several early investors supported the idea behind BitClout. A16z, Coinbase Ventures, Hack VC, Pantera Capital, Sequoia, and other investors contributed $200 million to the development of the DeSo platform.
In December 2021, just a few months after the launch of the DESO platform, DESO was listed on Coinbase. With its standards and requirements, DeSo became one of the fastest Layer 1 blockchains to be listed on an exchange.
Salil Shah joined the DeSo team in November 2022 to help grow the company. His current goal is to further develop the creator economy and enhance the Web3 capabilities of the decentralized social media platform.
Goals of DeSo
Like-minded individuals will gather on the DeSo platform, giving users more control over their social media interactions. Thanks to the platform's blockchain foundation, users will be able to maintain a sense of privacy and an additional layer of security while interacting with one another.
DeSo provides users with a decentralized environment where they can manage every element of their social network. You will be able to access all your social media content on one platform, thus owning your data.
DeSo also simplifies the scaling of social media applications. To accommodate billions of users, Web 2.0 social media platforms require vast amounts of digital storage. Compared to DeSo, uploading "likes," images, and status updates to blockchains like Ethereum would cost millions of dollars. Their website states that the on-chain storage cost for 200 characters is $0.000017, while Ethereum charges $78.75. The storage costs of the platform will not be surpassed by solutions like Cardano or Avalanche.
According to information on their website, the best part is that anyone running a node to manage their feeds will also contribute data back to the public pool of profiles, posts, follows, etc., stored on the public blockchain.
A post or a like on an ESPN node could appear in a summary on Politico. Posts from China could show up in summaries running on nodes in the U.S., and vice versa. As each node runs, more content is contributed back to the global data pool stored on the blockchain, making every other node on the network stronger and more appealing to users.
In a sense, DeSo can solve the collective action problem among independent publishers: publishers can now contribute to a public data pool that no one owns and will never be removed from intermediaries, rather than being forced to contribute to a private data pool controlled by large companies that do not align with them.
Thus, we can shift from a world where data is a tightly guarded private resource to a global utility that anyone can utilize.
How Creators Can Earn on DeSo - Social Tokens, Social NFTs, and Social Tips
The three product categories pioneered by DeSo have fundamentally changed the way creators monetize their online works, but this is just the beginning.
Social Tokens
Social NFTs
Social Tips
Anyone in the world can try to help creators earn in new ways by building applications on DeSo, as it is open-source and monetizable.
For example, imagine a well-known creator wanting to start offering premium content in exchange for a monthly subscription.
As long as someone on the internet builds this feature, the entire DeSo application ecosystem can immediately tap into this functionality.
The same goes for other features, such as inboxes, where creators can be compensated for forwarding content or replying to fans' messages.
The best machine learning researchers in the world can develop solutions with unrestricted access to the complete data stream, wherever they are, to solve other issues like identifying offensive content or eliminating spam.
Fundamentally, the DeSo blockchain is an open protocol that anyone in the world can contribute to, which will ultimately lead to the creation of more ways to unleash the true potential of creators and bring competition and innovation back to social media.
Six Key Features of DeSo
Social media has several characteristics that differ from typical DeFi applications, particularly in terms of interaction and storage.
Mixed PoW Consensus
Currently, the DeSo platform operates on a mixed consensus mechanism. The blockchain maintains a high level of security by utilizing a PoW model while using significantly less energy than other major blockchains. This model is continuously being improved, and the development team plans to transition to a PoS protocol in the future.
Social Graph
Every post you like, every friend request you accept, and every status update you make will form your social graph.
The connections between users, groups, and organizations on a social network are displayed in the social graph. All user data on decentralized social media is accessible. Therefore, social platforms and external parties cannot exploit your connections against you. Users can directly store all their posts and social graphs on-chain.
Hypersync x DeSo
To improve efficiency, most blockchains are designed to store only a small amount of data. Social applications require unlimited amounts of data, while DeFi protocols typically only need a few bytes of storage. This issue is addressed by Hypersync, which also allows for greater scalability.
Block downloads are the typical method used to synchronize blockchain activity. The transactions of blocks are downloaded one by one. While this can happen quickly, each transaction requires a significant amount of data. By giving users a snapshot of block activity, Hypersync helps users use less data. Records are compressed, making them more compact and practical.
Infinite State Applications
Even with bridges to storage-focused blockchains like Arweave or Filecoin, most Web 2.0 applications cannot be realized on today's general-purpose blockchains due to high on-chain storage costs. Even storing a link pointing to Arweave or Filecoin on any of the chains shown above would cost over $0.10 to $1.00 at current rates, which is prohibitive.
Most blockchains are developed to support limited-state applications with fixed storage needs; as these chains become more popular, costs may further increase. On the other hand, social media applications are infinite-state programs that can scale indefinitely. The DeSo platform uses a complex, purpose-built indexing system to enhance scalability.
DeSo Identity Service
The DeSo Identity Service development tools enable users to quickly store key pairs or credentials in applications based on the DeSo platform. Developers do not need to create complex forms or input validation to verify users' identities. Instead, this is seamlessly integrated into the application.
Decentralized Social Applications
There are hundreds of decentralized social applications on the DeSo platform. With the emergence of some development tools, new applications frequently arise.
Some of the most popular include:
Diamond: This decentralized version of Twitter encourages participation while providing new monetization avenues for content creators.
Stori: A decentralized application comparable to TikTok, focusing on video content.
NFTz: Like OpenSea, this decentralized NFT marketplace adds more social and community elements.
DeSocialWorld: Connect with users around the world in multiple languages.
DAODAO: Elevate your social fundraising to a new level through this unique Web3 platform.
Vibehut: Meet new friends through video chats based on shared interests or with friends.
What Are Its Advantages?
Decentralized social may seem complex, but the DeSo platform is straightforward and requires little teaching.
Moreover, using the DeSo platform has several unique advantages that you won't find on other Web 2.0 social platforms.
Own Your Content
While the most widely used platforms may allow you to retain your intellectual property, you may not have control over who can see it. Your content is always under your authority on the DeSo platform.
Get Rewarded for Your Content
As mentioned earlier, the DeSo platform makes monetization more straightforward. Content creators have several ways to earn extra money. Whether you want to persuade people to buy your creator tokens or earn through social tips, all you need to do is start creating exciting content and community to make money on DeSo.
As more people interact with your content, your potential income will increase.
Building Applications is Easy
The DeSo platform makes it easy to build new applications, and there are many resources available. The DeSo Developer Center is a great resource to start your project-related research.
Additionally, you will be able to use any programming language you already know, such as Python or JavaScript. The DeSo platform is open-source, so there are countless options to leverage the Web3 social layer and create new applications.
Increased Privacy
Using blockchain technology makes it easier to maintain your privacy on social media. Your data is securely stored on the DeSo platform rather than being held by private companies.
Just like the blockchain for financial applications, they cannot be accessed without your permission.
Reduced Spam and Fake News
While the content on the internet is unregulated, it does employ a reputation system. The accuracy of the content you see can be rated using this decentralized system. Users are less likely to encounter individuals with multiple accounts since they need to pay for all activities.
Without algorithms, users can more precisely customize the content they see.
DeSo's Roadmap
Phase 1 is still ongoing - the social layer of Web3, while Phase 2 - the Internet of DeSo is on the horizon, and the most exciting Phase 3, or what is called the revolution, is also coming soon:
Token Economics
Since its initial release in June 2021, the price of DESO has experienced significant volatility. The token was valued at over $178 at launch.
After being listed on Coinbase in December 2021, the price briefly surged. It skyrocketed to a high of $438.10, an astonishing increase of 151%.
The blockchain is open-source, but a substantial amount of funding is currently reserved for further development. The blockchain may experience price fluctuations in the future and gain more individual users due to additional investments.
Conclusion
Over time, integration with other blockchain technologies could lead to broader applications of the blockchain. For example, MetaMask integration allows users to interact with various social applications across chains.
Decentralized Social seems to apply the benefits of blockchain to social media using cutting-edge Web3 technology. Investors may still need to figure out what the future holds. Nevertheless, the Decentralized Social platform has some advantages, such as low storage costs, better privacy, and a range of decentralized social applications. It will be interesting to observe how this evolving technology impacts the future of social media.
