Can Blockchain Tame the Perils of Greed?
Major players in technology, like Facebook, Google, Instagram, and YouTube, dominate revenue streams related to advertising and content. But there are questions about just how much these user-dependent platforms pay-out to the very users who facilitate each platform’s success. By most accounts, it isn’t much, and YouTube, who reported $12 billion in revenue in 2017, recently raised the limit on the number of views required to share in advertising revenue.
This skewed distribution of wealth is not the only problem facing major tech platforms – many are experiencing backlash about the way they use the data they have collected about their users. This backlash, coupled with the predilection of millennial consumers for corporations that actively contribute to society, means the time is right for new, secure, and transparent business models. A variety of companies are using blockchain technology, the foundational element of cryptocurrency, to pursue these goals.
Smart contracts, written in code within the blockchain protocol, allow companies to openly execute this vision. Flixxo and View.ly are both video platforms gaining buzz for their business model. Both services offer tokens to users who upload, watch, and share content on their sites, but with slightly different approaches. Smart contracts allow Flixxo users to select the amount they would like to earn for their content and receive payment automatically – the terms are built into the contract, resulting in a seamless, automated process. Advertisers can purchase tokens from the channels they would like to advertise on, and tokenless users can watch these ads to watch their content of choice. Flixxo even pays users who offer to share their bandwidth to facilitate content distribution (similar to torrent services).
View.ly operates slightly differently, requiring its publishers have tokens if they want to post, necessitating engagement with the platform. Token owners can vote on the quality of each piece of content – this information is tallied and broadcast on a peer-to-peer network for verification. Next, after a seven-day distribution period, votes are aggregated, and tokens are awarded to participants.
These are nascent days for blockchain, and challenges remain. Flixxo and View.ly both use tokens based on Ethereum, which take roughly 10 minutes to transfer. Scaled up, this could mean delays as transaction volume clogs up the system. In response, Flixxo is initially combining centralized and distributed methods for tokens – blockchain is currently used strictly for deposits and withdrawals. As the technology improves, the entire allocation process will take place on-chain.
While it will take a massive groundswell of support to compete with global tech giants, blockchain offers a way to create more-democratic, transparent user-based networks that reward users and companies alike. Improving technology and enhanced creativity mean we are only seeing the beginning of blockchain’s impact on tech companies and how they do business.
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