Bitcoin’s been disrupting many industries, and it’s about to do the same to social media. Gems has already threatened to revolutionize the instant messaging businesses, by implementing in-app cryptocurrency tokens. Now using the Bitcoin blockchain, Synereo has threatened to do the same to full-featured social media platforms like Facebook, Google Plus, and even Diapsora and Tsu.
Synereo has a news feed, friends list, and user groups just like all other social media platforms. Like Facebook, it also contains the ability to promote one’s content, extending its organic reach.
Unlike Facebook, however, the funds spent to promote the content go to you–the viewer. Attention economy theory holds that your time and attention are limited and valuable, so Synereo only keeps what’s necessary for the upkeep of the network. If you enjoy and promote someone else’s content, they get to keep some as a reward.
Networks like Tsu have attempted the same, but they’re doing it without the use of the blockchain. Synereo’s AMP tokens are embedded into the Bitcoin blockchain via the Omni protocol, allowing you to buy them with bitcoins if you want to amplify your posts or invest your BTC (hopefully converted from dollars). Otherwise, you can turn the whole feature off.
You can also earn AMPs by contributing to the network. Unlike anything seen before, the Synereo social network is completely decentralized, storing data on user computers that connect directly peer to peer. All content is encrypted, accessible only to its author or those with shared access, instead of marketing analysts and the NSA.
If you get popular enough, you could even sell some AMPs back for bitcoins! Facebook is just one of many old paradigms that the Bitcoin protocol is about to replace.