CENTRALIZED AND DECENTRALIZED SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

CENTRALIZED SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

These are social media platforms that are owned and controlled by a central entity. On these platforms, users only have access to their accounts but do not own their accounts.

Users must abide by the rules and regulations of the central entity. This means, there's no freedom of expression on centralized social media platforms. Examples include: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, LinkedIn, etc.

DECENTRALIZED SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

This type of social media platform though maybe founded, created and managed by a central entity but it is not governed by them. Users fully own their accounts and have sole access to them.

Users are not subject to regulations on decentralized social media platforms. There's complete freedom of expression on the platform. Malicious users are flagged as such by other users of the platform. Examples include Steemit, Hive, Dtube, @wherein, etc.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DECENTRALIZED AND CENTRALIZED SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

REGULATION:

Centralized social media platforms are regulated by the single entity which owns the platform while decentralized social media platforms are not regulated by anybody.

ACCOUNT OWNERSHIP:

On centralized social media platforms, accounts are owned by the central authority, users are merely given access to it. For decentralized social media platforms, accounts are owned by users who solely have access to their accounts.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

On centralized social media platforms, expressions are made according to regulations. On decentralized social media platforms however, there is complete freedom of expression as no central authority regulates the platform.

PRIVACY

Centralized social media platforms sell users' private information for money through ads without any renumeration to their users. This is not done on decentralized social media platforms as there is no selling of users' information through ads.

EASE OF USE

Decentralized social media platforms are usually complex to use compared to centralized social media platforms which are easier to use.

PERSONALIZED CONTENT

Centralized social media platforms offer their users personalized content. Users see contents similar to what they've indicated interest in. On decentralized social media platforms, users have to search by themselves or pick interest in whatever they see and this is not always easy.

THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Decentralization is the future and I'll explain why.

Lots of people today are not satisfied with the way central authorities regulate various systems. Sometime ago, the then president of the US had his social media accounts blocked for expressing his thoughts. Issues like this will result to a mass exodus in the future from centralized to decentralized social media platforms.

Also, people will get fed up with having their personal data being sold for ads while they are not being compensated. They will prefer decentralized platforms like steemit which rewards its users and will migrate

STEEMIT VS TWITTER VS FACEBOOK

As a user of all three platforms, I'll explain how Steemit betters both Twitter and Facebook.

USER OWNERSHIP

My accounts on both Twitter and Facebook belong to the platforms owners. Facebook especially have exercised this ownership by banning my business accounts a number of times. On Steemit however, I own my account and though I may be flagged if I'm malicious, no one is shutting me out.

REGULATIONS

There are lots of regulations on Twitter and Facebook to abide by but not on Steemit. This gives me a total freedom of expression.

REWARDS

Twitter and Facebook want me to use their platform so they could make a fortune out of me. Steemit on the other hand, rewards me for creating content on the platform.

SECURITY

My Steemit account is securely protected with a system of various strong passwords with different permissions. Hacking my Twitter or Facebook accounts will be far easier.

HOW STEEMIT IMPACTS ITS USERS

Steemit impacts its users through:

HIGH LEVEL OF SECURITY

The security protocols on steemit means that users can enjoy the platform without fear of being attacked as long as they stick to the guidelines.

ABSOLUTE FREEDOM

Steemit offers it users absolute freedom of expression.

REWARDS

Steemit rewards it users for their activities on the platform, like curation, content creation, staking, or validation. These rewards are lucrative.

MAKING MONEY ON STEEMIT

There are 4 ways to make money on steemit.

• Creating quality and relevant contents in the various trending communities.

• Curating quality contents.

• Staking steem tokens (powering up)

• Validating block transactions (for witnesses only)

Personally, I make a lot of money from content creation, vesting tokens and curation. I don't buy votes as it is against the consensus of the platform which is Proof-of-Brain.

For content creation, I focus on the ongoing steem crypto academy as it provides a grand opportunity to make a fortune while learning about crypto.

Here's a record of my earnings on Steemit so far.

_{My account on steemworld.org}

CREATING COMMUNITIES ON STEEMIT

• Login to your steemit account and click on 'Steemit'

• Next, click on 'all posts'

• Then select 'Explore communities' from the drop-down

• At the top right of the newly opened page, click on 'create a community'

• Enter the details of the community and click on 'next'

• Your community owner name and password is displayed. Save these as you would save your steemit master key. Then click on 'create community'

• You will then see how much it costs to create a community (3 steem). Click on 'ok' if you accept it.

• Next you have to enter your active key then click on 'sign in'

• Your community will be created if you have up to 3 steem in your wallet.

CONCLUSION

Decentralized social media has huge advantages over centralized social media. It is regarded as the future because it offers account security, freedom, and sometimes rewards. Despite the freedom of expression, malicious users can be flagged as such by other users of the platform.

Thanks for reading.

Cc:
@yousafharoonkhan