For many years now, social media users have endured ongoing platform changes that are invariably designed to milk more advertising revenues, appease executive egos, or generally increase profitability at the expense of the overall user experience. As users become disillusioned with social media, could Web3 iterations like RepubliK, which allow users governance rights over the platform and its development, offer a way to re-engage them?
The first full year of Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter (now renamed X) has just ended. It’s fair to say that it hasn’t gone well for the controversial billionaire. Ostensibly on a one-man mission to fix everything that’s wrong with free speech, the platform has nosedived in popularity since he took over in late 2022. Although it doesn’t publish real-time user statistics, it’s estimated that X has lost as much as 11% of its user base, while advertising revenues are down as much as 55% year-on-year.
While allowing previously banned individuals who hold extremist and conspiracist views back onto the platform will have alienated some, for many, the nail in the coffin was the shake-up around the famous blue tick. The symbol was once a reliable indicator of a celebrity, brand, or otherwise influential account until Musk decided it would become a privilege open to anyone willing to pay the monthly subscription. His ambitions for X to become an “everything app” only appear to be shared by his most ardent followers, with most users still mourning the loss of Twitter as the world’s biggest online town square.
Declining appeal for Gen Z
X is far from the only social media app on a downward trajectory. Facebook, which will be twenty years old this year, still has over three billion users – more than a third of the world’s population. Nevertheless, for the last two or three years, it’s been struggling to attract Gen Z users, who tend towards TikTok and Instagram. According to internal documents, younger users complain of having to scroll past irrelevant content to reach what matters to them, as well as citing concerns about privacy.
Of course, the term “users” implies an undifferentiated mass when, in fact, a user could be a consumer or creator of content, and platforms rely on attracting enough of both to remain viable. However, creators can also be among the most discerning when it comes to user experience and platforms making unanticipated changes – hardly surprising considering that such changes can impact their revenue. And yet, in all but a handful of cases, creators have almost no more influence over a platform than users who simply consume content despite their financial and social contribution to the platform.
In light of the increasing disillusionment with traditional social media, it seems like a great time for decentralized social (DeSoc) platforms to make their case. Apps such as Mastodon and Bluesky, which are based on decentralized infrastructure, have gained a boost from users seeking refuge from Musk’s changes to Twitter, but their development is still under the control of companies and centralized entities.
Now, social platforms that operate decentralized governance models are beginning to emerge.
From DeFi to DeSoc
For several years, decentralized governance via tokens has been operating successfully for DeFi applications such as Maker, Compound, and Uniswap. However, the model is becoming more prominent in other segments thanks to projects like RepubliK, a social content ecosystem that allows creators to keep a larger share of their earnings while holding a stake in the platform itself.
The project operates around its RPK token, which is the main transacting currency in the RepubliK environment, as well as serving as the governance token for the ecosystem itself. Holders of RPK can vote on decisions, including new features, partnerships, and content. Critically, anyone can also submit a proposal to be voted on via an in-app governance system, empowering everyone with a say over how the community is run.
Since RPK is used for both governance and transactions, voting influence accrues to those who generate the most value on the platform, meaning that contributions are more equitably correlated to rewards. Creators can monetize via a range of tools, including tipping, paywalled content, NFTs, and creator tokens.
Smoothing the Path from Web2 to Web3
While bestowing governance rights on users may seem like a great idea in principle, crypto’s notoriously clunky user experience often acts as a practical barrier to onboarding everyday users. To provide an experience more akin to Web2 social media apps, RepubliK recently announced a landmark partnership with The Open Network (TON). TON enables easy onboarding to its blockchain, allowing users to create a wallet using only their Telegram login.
The strategy could prove to be a winner if RepubliK’s early successes are anything to go by: 1.5 million registered users now make over 10,000 transactions per day on the network. With traditional social media networks continuing to lose traction, particularly among the younger, more digitally savvy generation, there’s a potentially very large engagement gap opening up. It’s one that newcomer social platforms will be only too eager to fill.
