Update 02/12/2019: SPN was de-listed from Ethex. See here for more info.

Sapien Platform Overview

For several years now, people have slowly begun to realize that Web 2.0 social media platforms are broken. Fake news, content censorship, lack of content creator compensation, and improper data usage are just a few of the many problems that have plagued major platforms. Sapien is an excellent example of a Web 3.0, blockchain-based social news platform aiming to solve these issues.

For Sapien, the SPN ERC20 token and the platform’s functionalities provide a glimpse of what’s possible with Web 3.0 social media. Unlike most sites that are limited to highly specific content niches (i.e. Youtube for longer videos, Instagram for photos and short videos, Twitter for short written posts), Sapien allows users to easily upload and view a variety of content types (articles, videos, photos, GIFs, and more) via one platform.

Now that we have a better understanding of what Sapien is, let’s look at the platform and its native ERC20 token in further detail.

Using the Sapien Platform

First, you’ll need to sign up for a Sapien account. Note that you’ll have to verify your email account.

If you’ve used Reddit, you’ll probably be familiar with the layout of Sapien. Posts are categorized by “Hot”, “New”, and “Top”. There are also two content layout formats. The default view is a summary list that links to a separate page upon clicking. The second option allows you to view the entire post at once.

The platform allows users to participate via upvoting and downvoting posts. In order to participate on the Sapien platform, you’ll first need to stake 100 SPN. These tokens are needed for upvoting, downvoting, and commenting.

Here are some GIFs that show how to complete the staking process.

When trying to participate on Sapien, you’ll need to stake a minimum of 100 SPN tokens.

Associating a MetaMask account is simple to do. You can even associate multiple addresses.

You’ll only need to stake a minimum of 100 SPN. However, I decided to stake 3000 SPN to start using the platform.

At the bottom of the screen, you can verify your SPN balance.

Interacting on the Platform

Once you’ve staked SPN tokens, you’re ready to start participating on the Sapien platform. One noteworthy aspect when using Sapien is the fact that actions on the platform (i.e. upvoting or commenting) don’t cost you any SPN funds. Instead, if you to go to your profile page, you’ll find that this gives you extra “points”. Upon signup, you should automatically have 500 points. As you interact on the platform, you’ll receive more points.

With two upvotes, I received two additional points.

After verifying my phone number, I was able to start earning SPN rewards by participating on the Sapien platform. With each interaction on the platform, the ‘available’ funds went up. Available funds also increased over time.