A decentralized and open source social network allows different servers to be linked through the same software.

This kind of social network provides strong privacy because users’ data can’t be stored or controlled by any companies or agencies.

Facebook & Youtube

On the other hand, a centralized social network is based on the same server that stores any information provided by users. This is the way in which social networking companies can earn money thanks to advertising and statistics.

For example, Facebook is a centralized social network and they are able to use users’ data to know their habits and sell targeted advertising.

There are some exceptions: YouTube allows video producers to earn money by sharing a part of the payments, but there are a lot of fees to pay.

So, what’s the solution?

We cannot talk about a specific definition of a decentralized social network, as they are still in development.

However, the basic idea behind decentralized social networks is twofold.

There is an economic reason: if users can create wealth, they could be paying for the value they produce.

Another reason is that users can contribute to the network, editing the open source software behind the social network itself.

DATT

Created by Ryan X Charles, who previously worked at BitPay and Reddit, Datt (short for Decentralize All the Things) is a still-in-development social network that utilizes the blockchain.

“The current timeline is to launch something in about 6 months. However, I have begun the process of recruiting cofounders. It is possible we will be able to finish sooner if I can find the right people.”, said Ryan X Charles.

“Datt is a social network where people can read content and pay the creators. Our goal is to empower users to find the best content, to properly own their content, and to get paid for the value they produce”, says the “about us” page on Datt’s website.

But, “The copyright problem is not unique to Datt. Every social media app has this problem. Reddit has a problem where content gets reposted. Users on Facebook sometimes copy a video from Youtube and reshare it without giving any credit to the original content creators. Datt will solve this problem by leveraging a human-powered flagging system for copyrighted content. We will also eventually include data analysis for programmatically determining what content is copyrighted by someone else. While it is not possible to permanently delete content from Datt, it is possible to inform users about who the true author or owner of a piece of content is”, he continued.

DECENT

I recently had the pleasure to speak with the co-founder of Decent, Matej Michalko. Here is what he had to say about his social network:

“DECENT is a decentralized blockchain based peer to peer content distribution network. It implements its own token of payment - DCT, similar to the ETH gas in Ethereum. The main advantage of DECENT over traditional platforms is that DECENT is anonymous; all the players are identified exclusively by their ID and protected by advanced cryptography. However, the users also have the option to be associated with given content. Focused on freedom of speech and expression, the platform provides unlimited access to information for everyone in the world. DECENT provides open-source software that enables users to share unlimited virtual content; the company’s main goal is to give a chance to individuals whose voice is normally controlled. DECENT combines a micropayment framework with solid encryption, giving a whole new level of privacy to its users—the DECENT platform only allows for authorized users to access the content. The platform operates via a P2P network, and DECENT’s platform is not centrally hosted, so the data cannot be manipulated and they can never be blocked. Authors can set the price for the content. Only users who paid the price set by the author can access the content. On the other hand, the payment will be processed only if the user verifiably received the content. The Author pays the Publisher for acting as a storage and content distribution network. The payment will be released over time to motivate the publisher to keep the content as long as required. The payment for network storage is also an effective anti-spam mechanism. Consumers can rate the content. These ratings can be used for various purposes, e.g. assuming content quality, author’s reputation or by recommendation engines. 100% of the payment for the content goes to the author. There are no network or processing fees. The Author and Consumer can remain fully anonymous if they want to”.

SYNEREO

Synereo’s social network has its own currency token, AMP, and offers users the ability to completely control the information they share.

Cointelegraph previously interviewed Synereo co-founder, Anderson McCutcheon, who explained to us the main functions of this project and its longer term strategy to obtain dominance over big players such as Facebook.

“For mainstream adoption, our long term goal is to provide a superior user experience. We can implement features that are not ‘accessible’ to Facebook and other networks due to monetization constraints”, he said.