What's it Soci(All) About? Social Network 'Sociall' (beta) Reviewed

The reviewing continues despite many distractions ( like Patreon discussed in this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/user/carlmunson/patreon-discussed-on-radio-for-a-world-t )and MORE platforms emerging by the day it seems ('Yours', wanting to reward Steemit-like bloggers with Bitcoin Cash).

Anyway, regular readers will know I'm assessing Facebook alternatives (and other interesting 'Web3.0' ideas) via these criteria: Brief introduction; What THEY say; Positives; Negatives; Ease of sign-up, use & connection with others and 'Money' Munson's verdict. All are here on Steemit and voiced as podcasts on Spreaker: https://www.spreaker.com/show/radio-for-a-world-that-works

So let's get to work with a Brief Introduction to Sociall...

[Addendum: Sociall began life as 'Nexus']

"Sociall, so good" could easily be this platform's strap-line, or certainly an articulation of its aspirations. The right words, at least for my liking, are being uttered around this allegedly rapidly-developing idea, such as 'privacy', 'decentralisation' and 'cryptocurrency'.

On the playing-field-levelling 'Gran-scale', I'm going to say this isn't one for Avo, as we say in Portugal - it's too conceptual and futuristic for your average nan. But you might be able to bag her a nice Christmas present by the end of the year in their peer-to-peer market place, if all goes according to plan.

This one is more like onG Social than MeWe, more likely attracting futurists and philosophers, rather than refugees from the global giant, who'll be looking for full functionality and an emphasis on features. Right now, I'm on the special invitation beta test site, which will drive most mere mortals mad.

On arrival, I'm told: "Sociall is a secure and private decentralised social network for all". In theory, yes, but not all know they want this. Yet.

It seems the emphasis here is on a marketplace and ads created in a peer-to-peer environment, not'B2C' like Facebook. It'll be underpinned by a private/secure messaging service and a 'Community section' - "for all users on the platform to discover new accounts to follow and to engage with the community. Consider the Community section to be more of an open public blog where content rich posts can be seen by anyone on Sociall and beyond. It is where you can create a post with images, links, embedded multimedia (and more), and to have other users on Sociall read through it."

They add: "The Community section is the only part of Sociall that is visible to search engines."

(More) What THEY say

By far the most impressive thing about Sociall, so far, is their impressive and concise promotional video. Here it is:

Drilling down, let's look at more on their USP-stuff...

"What does "decentralized" mean?

Decentralization is the process of distributing or dispersing functions, powers, people or things away from a central location or authority. This is exactly what Sociall is trying to do. All data and multimedia on Sociall is currently stored in a decentralised solution so that not one single entity has control over the information. Sociall will eventually give all the power to the people – meaning that Sociall will not have control over the data at all, and users on the platform will be able to self-govern the network without the need for a controlling entity."

"What is "self-governing"?

Sociall is slowly moving the entire platform to self-governing. This means that users on Sociall will be able to assist with keeping the platform clean and safe by removing spam and offensive posts. All users who contribute to this will be compensated in SCL. It is a way to remove the centralised entity from controlling the platform and gives the power back to the people."

Positives

• Decentralised!
• Self-governing!
• Uploads are encrypted and securely stored
• Anti-search engine
• Advertising, but NOT as we know it - Sociall will have a peer-to-peer market place & 'ad platform'
• Own-brand cryptocurrency (SCL) for in-site trading
• Platform wallet for native SCL and other cryptos
• 'Governers' will be rewarded
• Mobile apps due in 2019

Negatives

• Largely aspirational
• No obvious community interaction
• Not as established as nearest competitor onG Social

Ease of sign-up, use & connection with others

I was smugly happy to be selected as a beta tester, and siging up was fairly straightforward. 'Carl Munson' has created a profile and was not exactly blown away by the dated multiple choice system used in the process.

[Create your profile by choosing areas of interest?]

I posted my now standard Hi, I'm new here! How's it going? post to my feed/timeline/wall and have, in nearly a week, received no reaction, traction or interaction. This is SERIOUS beta!

[The UI: Nothing to write home about, but still in beta]

It's boring and buggy, but don't get me wrong, I'm not surprised or offended. My appreciation of Sociall's aims has bought them a lot of goodwill and patience in my mind. I'll wait and hope to see more meat on the bones in due course.

'Money' Munson's verdict

Probable early adopters on Sociall will be crypto-aware, tech-savvy types keen to make a bit of a living whilst social networking. Whilst in line and admiring of Sociall's intentions, I'm concerned about their lack of progress. I can't fault their aims, but users need to be able to smell some coffee soon.

For rapid reactions try Mastodon and Diaspora. For fully-functioned, Facebook familiarity, try MeWe or Vero. Sociall, like onG, are for more interesting to me with the genuine, evolutionary potential they may well bring to the the Web's social spaces.

That said, as it stands, a more exciting time can be had browsing the whitepaper here: https://sociall.io/whitepaper.pdf

You can join the beta waiting list here: https://sociall.io/ ("The Sociall team sends out a few hundred invitiations per week. This number will continue the grow as the platform becomes more stable over the coming weeks.")

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Also available in the #alt2fb series:

onG Social review here: https://steemit.com/alt2fb/@carlmunson/ong-social-review
Diaspora review here: https://steemit.com/diaspora/@carlmunson/thank-you-diaspora-all-is-forgiven-diaspora-reviewed
Mastodon review here: https://steemit.com/mastodon/@carlmunson/why-tweet-when-you-can-toot-alternatives-to-facebook-and-the-new-social-media-mastodon-reviewed
Vero review here: https://steemit.com/vero/@carlmunson/dejected-about-diaspora-i-m-verifying-vero-instead-vero-social-network-app-reviewed
The Full Circle Project review here: https://steemit.com/fullcircleproject/@carlmunson/worrier-to-warrior-alternatives-to-facebook-and-the-new-social-media-the-full-circle-project-reviewed

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Please note: Features and opinions are subject to change. This review is written in good faith and intent. Comments are welcome. Relevant adjustments and edits will be gladly made. Screenshots are shared for illustrative purposes only.