Profiles, posts, comments, connections, and shares, as well as likes, groups, and event listings and promotions, are all features of the current generation of social networks; whether on a site or via mobile app, social media and networks are fundamentally nearly the same. What’s to come?
This is an online discussion worth having. Want to do it?
I believe that social networking is not just about any one kind of platform. If you think about it, the web in itself is a big giant social network 🙂
The majority of websites now has some sort of “social” feature, from content sharing to posts, comments, groups, forums, profiles, etc. Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc are basically just websites that focus on some or all of those features.
Decentralization is definitely going to play a major role in the next generation of social networks. Bringing everything/everyone in the web together in the same space, in some cases, (real and non real-time) I believe is what’s going to be the next generation of social network.
I’ve been sitting on this idea of a decentralized platform via a browser extension that would turn the web into a social network and could essentially connect everyone anywhere no matter what website you’re on. Basically turning your browser itself somewhat into a social platform.
I’ve been asked this so frequently, I need a place to gather some thoughts and solicit yours and others. Here’s what has me intrigued…
The next generation of social networking is what we call “decentralized.”
Decentralization refers, according to Amazon and AWS, to the transfer of control and decision-making from a centralized entity (individual, organization, or group thereof) to a distributed network. Decentralized networks strive to reduce the level of trust that participants must place in one another, and deter their ability to exert authority or control over one another in ways that degrade the functionality of the network.
The foundation of these networks will have no ownership, meaning no central decision about control, privacy, use of data, monetization, or censorship.
In as much as we are, today, pondering regulation, breaking up, or legislating things like Facebook, Twitter, or reddit, decentralization of social networks will empower the individual to retain more control over their own profile, network, and posts, while the experience itself is distributed in an almost open-source like manner.
That will mean that governments will lose even more potential to regulate it — a good thing, believe it or not, because social media and the internet are fundamentally global and virtual (no *region* of the world should be able to control what it can or can’t do).
This is already happening, at a significant and accelerating pace.
One such example is DeSo (Decentralized Social)
As a proof of concept of that, BitClout was launched, as an encrypted and tokenized alternative to Twitter. It’s build ON DeSo and it’s already presenting opportunities well beyond social media, “Can Social Tokens Pave a New Future for Music? BitClout’s Still Banking On It”
I’ve been increasingly involved there given what we do, and are exploring here; and because of my greater confidence in blockchain and cryptocurrency being transparent, thanks to social media, I bought my first NFT through the technology.
So there’s my hot take, stake in the ground, about what the future holds in social networks. Like I said though, I’ve asked this here because I’m curious about yours…
Most of current social media is either historic or passive. I think the next generation will be geared towards active (or even forward thinking), so less profile, and more proclivity to do something. less post, and more gather. less connect, more community. less share virtually, more share real space and time.