Billionaire and real estate mogul, Frank McCourt has recently been working on a new blockchain venture titled Project Liberty. It’s ambitious goal, to bring together the power of the blockchain and merge it into a social media protocol.
With a social media database like this, he believes no social media platform would be able to control everyone’s data. All users would have access to the blockchain and could aptly move records of their social connections between the apps that they want to use, when they want to use them.
Users having complete control over their information would promote competition in the social media market where platforms would have to offer users a better experience and unique features. There would be different pro’s and con’s to each platform. None would dominate completely as social media users could spread out in a wider marketplace operating on the blockchain to accept their previous data, and social connections helping them get set up faster.
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McCourt is investing $100 Million into the project, proving just how much confidence investors have in blockchain technology and that the applications of the blockchain in general are endless in our tech driven world.
In an article from Bloomberg on Sunday McCourt states,
I never thought I would be questioning the security of our underlying systems, namely democracy and capitalism
We live under constant surveillance, and what’s happening with this massive accumulation of wealth and power in the hands of a few, that’s incredibly destabilizing. It threatens capitalism because capitalism needs to have some form of fairness in it in order to survive
The fairness that McCourt is looking for lies in the inherent freedom of a decentralized protocol and the foundations of blockchain technology. No one entity is in charge of the network and the data. Users on this social media protocol would have access to their data putting the power of making money off people’s data back in the people’s hands.
How Project Liberty Works With Blockchain Technology
The main aim of the project is to build a Decentralized Social Networking Protocol. Much like how Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are stored in a users wallet with a unique key, on this protocol, users social media data would be stored here on the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol. Then, users can choose to transfer that data to the different apps and platforms that they want to use as their forms of social media.
Much like the original goal of Bitcoin and crypto in general, it is important that date like social media information become ingrained in the blockchain as well. That way, it is engrained forever and the people can control their own data how they want. Knowing that it is there, secured in their wallet, and transferable forever to be used how they see fit.
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This is a huge addition to the blockchain tech world with implications on the market that are far reaching. With a Decentralized Social Networking Protocol, new social media apps and platforms would have a way of aquiring users without having to go through the already major players in the social media industry. Plus the best part, users would always control their data giving and taking away permission from companies as they need.
Additional Blockchain Social Media Protocol
Project Liberty closely mirrors the aims of Bluesky. A project started by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey that also aims to use blockchain technology to give users the power of their own data back. He details much of the goals for the project in this Twitter thread.
It is clear that with big players in the game like Twitter and billionaire Frank McCourt, the marriage between social media and blockchain tech is here to stay. Moreover, it will almost certainly grow bigger over time as more platforms adopt the changes within the marketplace.
Feature Photo by Rodion Kutsaev on Unsplash
