It is the content creators and users that provide all the value to these social platforms, yet they enjoy none of the profits or rewards. Only the most elite top creators get a tiny slice of the pie. The value and engagement created by the vast majority of users only serves to increase the profitability of the governing platform through the sale of advertisements. There is no reward for the value they add to the platform.

Content creators with large followings are forced to look externally for ways of monetising their work. This often means conforming to existing consumerism strategies of personally endorsing or advertising products. Oftentimes, contrary to their ideals, creators are forced to sell out on part of their identity in order to earn.

The shortcomings of this model are being realised more and more, and many content creators have moved to the likes of Patreon, Substack, OnlyFans etc. for direct subscription-based ways to monetise their content and share directly with their close fans. This is possible for those with a large established following, but very difficult for content creators starting out.

Top creators who need to earn from their work are becoming less willing to share their content on mainstream channels that offer no financial return. This means the content we see on Facebook and Twitter is likely to continue to wane in quality. It’s likely Facebook sees this shift on the horizon. Earlier this year it pledged $1 Billion to creator pool programs between Facebook and Instagram. This looks like a generous offering on the surface, but knowing its advertising revenue for 2020 was $84 billion, it hardly seems like a fair trade-off for its community.

Further to this, Ireland is the latest of seven EU countries to sign the European Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market into law. This means big tech companies like Google and Facebook will have to negotiate pay deals with newspapers and other content creators featured in their news feeds and online search results. This is another step in shifting the balance of power back towards the content creator, but is only another small step on a long road.

Web 3.0 technology for the new age of social media

Perhaps the means of enabling content creators and social media users to get a fair slice of the pie is closer than we think. Blockchain technology has enabled a shift in the balance of power away from the large governing platforms and back into the hands of the community. Blockchain allows for a more decentralised ecosystem. This means better control, privacy and ownership when sharing data online.

When combined with the integration of cryptocurrency, decentralised finance (DeFi) is possible. Governed by smart contracts on the blockchain, this allows for fast, accurate, secure and transparent transfers. Imagine cutting out the middle man of Patreon, Substack or Only Fans. No additional service fees, just peer-to-peer transactions from fans to creators in exchange for their content.

Taking this back to social media platforms, the technology is here to allow a fairer, more autonomous ecosystem to thrive. The key to success is creating a token economy with generous reward pools for content creators and active users. A platform which financially rewards users in a fairer way, protects their data and gives them the opportunity to concentrate on producing the quality content they’re capable of.

While it may sound more complex, the only difference is how the backend of the platform is engineered. The user interface and functionality will be user-friendly and familiar. All it involves is simply linking your cryptocurrency wallet to the partnering blockchain of the platform. This allows any cryptocurrency rewards or digital assets to be stored securely in your personal wallet and available to exchange or transact as you please.

How Waivlength will reward its users

Waivlength is a social media platform in development which aims to lead the new age of social media. The ultimate goal is to create a safer, more autonomous and more user-centric space to connect that is adaptable for the next generation of the internet. Unique features which make this possible include sizeable financial rewards for its users, wholescale verification, decentralised elements to improve privacy and data security, novel gamified features and its social consensus protocol.

Waivlength can provide hefty rewards for its user-base in a two pronged way:

Token Rewards

Through its integrated cryptocurrency ($WAIV), its tokenomics are carefully designed to incentivise and reward its user base for their contributions. With 70% of the entire token supply dedicated to the community ecosystem there are large financial rewards available for content creators and active users alike.

Token rewards will be earned in multiple ways by all users through post engagements, content creation and curation, moderation, labelling and the completion of ‘challenges’, there is a way for everyone to earn.

To encourage content creation, meaningful engagement and provide some intrinsic value to the platform while network effects are low in the early growth phase, there are gamified challenge-based features which users can complete to earn rewards. More info on this here.

The final layer to this is how users and creators get fairly rewarded proportional to the value they bring to the platform. Waivlength has designed an algorithm for this which scores individual contributions into a ranking system to act as a fair assessment of worth. This is referred to as the ‘social consensus protocol’.

This protocol will take data points from various metrics for ranking users under a range of categories. These data points that feed into the algorithm will be open-source and transparent, however the scoring and ranking system of users will be completely anonymous and stored decentrally. The ultimate aim of this protocol is to incentivise thoughtful engagement, accurate reporting and reward quality. Further information on this is available here.

Also, with the entire token supply being gradually rolled out over 4 years, (60% year one, 80% year two, 92.5% year three and 100% year four) it means there will be ever-increasing rewards available as the user base grows and token price increases.

These token incentives create a mutual benefit to the user, the platform and the entire community ecosystem. Challenges which uphold the ethos of the platform and incentivise the right behaviour, engagement and content creation can help the platform to expand and develop while maintaining its integrity.

Revenue Recycling to the Community

Waivlength recognises that social platforms are only as good as the people and the content that is on them. It is only fair that those who create the most value to the platform get rewarded for it. This is reflected in the business model. Beyond the token rewards, Waivlength also pledges 45% of its annual revenue back to the community of users.

These rewards will be paid in the form of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, and are once again distributed back to the entire community proportional to the weighting of the social consensus protocol to ensure the community is fairly rewarded for their contributions to the network. Platform revenue will come from advertising. Waivlength will not track its users across platforms or sell their personal data to third parties. Trust and transparency is the ethos of Waivlength and we want to be consistent with that across all aspects of business.

Forthcoming Updates

While Waivlength developers and advisors continue to work hard over the months ahead on platform build and securing external investment, it is clear that this platform has the potential to make a huge global impact as a competitor to current mainstream social media. Learn more at www.waivlength.io where you can find a more detailed whitepaper and roadmap for the development of the platform along with contact details for the team.

There is an incoming series of articles providing more detail on how Waivlength is seeking to revolutionise the social media space. Be sure to follow so you don’t miss out.