Ever since blockchain technology was introduced with Bitcoin (BTC) back in 2009 later on achieving the point of a near-mainstream technology, blockchain has been practically utilized for all sorts of use cases you can possibly imagine.
That is how blockchain even came to social networking. Social networks are a big part of the modern life and each month millions and millions of people are tweeting, scrolling through the news feed on Facebook, “hearting” their friends’ photos on Instagram, or connecting with professionals on LinkedIn.
Whether we like it or not, social networks have become a great part of our lives, and so the most controversial technology, the blockchain, found its way to the everyday routine that social networking has become.
Although the concept of decentralized social networks is still in development, there are already several interesting blockchain-based social networks, one of them being WhatsAround.
The Concept of Decentralized Social Networking: What is WhatsAround?
Blockchain technology seems to be applicable to all sorts of industries and use-cases which also includes social networking, If anything, the case where Mark Zuckerberg is being trialed for misused information of registered users on one of the largest networks, Facebook, should make us consider alternative options for connecting with our friends and relatives.
In oppose to centralized nature, decentralization is always leaning towards transparency and democratization, giving power to the community instead of an individual that acts as a middleman in the given equation – thus decentralized blockchain-based social networks were born.
One of such networks is WhatsAround, might be one of the most prominent of its kind. Much like with Instagram, you can use WhatsAround to share your photos, images, funny pics, and memes with your family, relatives, friends, and followers, and also get paid for doing so.
Instagram does pay their users, but only if those users are “blessed” with thousands of followers liking their activities on the mentioned centralized social network.
The thing that makes WhatsAround so special, besides from being decentralized and transparent, is the fact that this social network rewards its users with ShotPoints which are earned by being simply active on the network.
The more you are involved in “sharing and caring” on WhatsAround, liking, bookmarking, and posting on the network, the more ShotPoints you earn. ShotPoints can’t be actually spent as a currency, but can be used for certain services on Ethereum network, as well as be exchanged for different gift cards, like Amazon gift card, PayPal credits or Starbucks, so you have a neat use of social networking.
In addition to rewarding users for activity, WhatsAround is very simple and easy to use, so even those users who are not particularly blockchain savvy won’t cringe at the mention of a blockchain-based network.
The fact that WhatsAround is hosted on blockchain only adds more value to this growing social network which is still being developed to its full potential, which means that only you own exclusive rights to your own data, being a part of the top security ecosystem that is practically impenetrable, so the Mark Zuckerberg data stealth fiasco surely won’t happen on WhatsAround.
