The evolution of social media technologies allows global communities to communicate, advocate for social causes, and facilitate information sharing. Messaging applications and telecom networks helped build dynamic social media networks with millions of users surfing between platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

However, the centralized approach of these applications has led to an unsustainable ecosystem with third-party attacks, severe outages, and censorship. Private companies own, control, and monetize users’ data ― sometimes without their knowledge.

In comparison, decentralized social media offers users governance over their data. Since they operate on blockchain, control is in the hands of global nodes, miners, and users with different tasks. Ethereum, for example, is an innovative network where worldwide users can create applications and run them through smart contracts, using the public digital ledger and paying gas fees in accordance with the Ethereum price.

Blockchain is one of several solutions on the market that developers use to create decentralized social media applications. Let’s learn more about it.

What do social dApps offer?

Decentralized social media apps are possible with blockchain technology and peer-to-peer networks. Since no single entity controls the application, operations are democratic and transparent, enhancing security.

Communities work in groups of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), where like-minded users implement changes by voting. Their activity is fully public. Moreover, changes in DAOs happen automatically through smart contracts.

With transparent decision-making and automation, decentralized apps ensure:

• Censorship-resistance through the immutable ledger, where no one can remove or change data on the blockchain;
• User rewards and incentives based on generating content, contributing to network safety, and accessing new forms of monetization;
• Increased privacy and anonymity through stealth addresses, where users can receive funds anonymously;

What are the benefits of social dApps?

Decentralization in social media provides societies with a wide array of advantages. While centralized apps heavily monetize user data, decentralized networks offer individuals the freedom to share their information with whomever they want.

The issue with censorship on centralized social apps is the risk of suppressing speech and manipulating narratives. When app management decides what is and is not politically correct, it can even impact democratic values and freedom of expression.

That’s why community governance in decentralized applications is ideal. It allows groups and organizations to decide on limits and maintain a safe space online. Identifying fake news and misinformation is easier when multiple parties have the tools to draw the line.

What’s the best blockchain for social dApps?

Considering the vast offer of blockchain solutions, social media applications can approach different networks for perks and unique features. For example, Ethereum is the most popular blockchain, and its tools of smart contracts, innovative programming language, and marketplaces make it an appropriate solution for scaling social media apps. The extensive developer community is also leading the development of decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and gaming.

However, Ethereum’s gas fees might be a problem for beginners, so choosing the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) is beneficial. Lower transaction fees and faster processing times mean enhanced scalability and interoperability.

For applications with cross-chain functionalities, Polkadot is the best option because it allows interoperability between blockchains, ensuring fast communication and seamless data transfer. Hence, developers can connect other networks with Polkadot to benefit from parallel transaction processing and scalability.

Developing smart contracts for social dApps

Writing the smart contract is the most important step in creating a dApp because it’ll be the backbone of automating processes and transactions. Developers must learn specific programming languages, such as Ethereum’s Solidity or Polkadot’s Rust, to define the

application’s rules and logic.

After the writing phase, smart contracts require consistent testing. Dev tools like Truffle help speed up the process to ensure the contracts are functional and free of vulnerabilities. This step is considerably challenging, as security risks like reentrancy attacks, timestamp dependence, and front-running attacks are common vulnerabilities to blockchains like Ethereum.

Deploying the smart contract is the final step in making it accessible for the decentralized application. Considering you’ll have to manage aspects like fronted, tokenomics, and security compliance, the smart contract must be perfect for further trial and error.

Examples of decentralized social applications

Social dApps are on the rise, especially since users are unsatisfied with current centralized apps. Hence, developers create them as alternatives for what people usually use to benefit from enhanced data control.

A popular alternative to Facebook is Mastodon, a platform operating on open-source microblogging technology. What’s special about it is the chronological feed, whose content is not based on algorithms but only on users’ content contribution. Users can create servers, curate their feeds, and gain complete control over what they want to see.

A Reddit variant is Steemit, a blogging platform with its own dedicated blockchain. Its reward system pays users with the STEEM native token for sharing content and engaging with others. Steemit also benefits from its dedicated host in terms of scalability.

PixelFed is a decentralized alternative to Instagram that prioritizes user privacy. The application is open-source and ad-free, allowing users to curate their feed through selective algorithms. As a visual-focused platform, PixelFed provides a vast array of image-editing tools and filters.

Challenges of social dApps

Decentralized social media apps are only at the beginning of their journey on the internet, as Web3 itself is slowly building up. Therefore, they face challenges of Web3 UX installation, making it difficult for users to navigate them.

dApps also face tough competition from centralized apps, as their market dominance is difficult to overthrow. The problem with decentralization in dApps is congestion, which raises transaction fees. In addition, as different blockchains back up dApps, their value on the market can be prone to volatility.

Would you consider using a decentralized social media app?

The endless problems with data safety on centralized apps are pushing towards decentralized applications, where users are in complete control over their data. Developers create these apps with various blockchain infrastructures through smart contracts, offering communities alternatives to centralized apps. Some of the best examples include Mastodon, Steemit, and PixelFed.

© qolumnist