Social media content creators suffer from a significant lack of monetization options for the work they produce. While some are able to leverage sponsored posts, this approach is largely inconsistent and available to only a select tier of creators. What’s more, centralized social media platforms are raking in billions of dollars a year in advertising, a direct byproduct of the network contributions of content creators. This unbalanced system has left creators wanting more, and many are looking to the blockchain to find unique platforms that offer transparent monetization options.

While there are platforms like the very popular Steem and open networks like po.et, which enable blog writers to monetize their articles, there have been far fewer projects looking to tackle the broader social media market. However, one project has identified this unmet need and is rapidly building out a solution: Mithril.

Mithril is a decentralized social media platform that rewards all content creators. Mithril leverages Social Mining, where mining rewards are directly linked to a content creator’s influence and success as a contributor to the network. The more network value they bring to the platform, the more MITH they will earn. This system is initially being implemented through Mithril’s Lit app, and the project ultimately aims to build a full blockchain-based platform that further incentivizes users and businesses to interact.

Interested in Mithril? Here’s a quick rundown of the project:

Platform & Development

In short, Mithril is creating a social media ecosystem that is driven by Social Mining, a method of monetizing user-generated content across the network. Through Social Mining, content creators are rewarded for posting, views, likes and shares. To start with, Mithril plans on integrating its ERC-20 token, MITH, into all major social networks as a way of creating a more pervasive reward system, further increasing adoption and acceptance of MITH as a form of social currency.

The Mithril network functions in a way that early adopters will be rewarded more heavily, as the Mithril quantity that is available for mining will be halved annually over the course of a predetermined number of years. Thirty-five percent of the total Mithril pool will be available for users to mine via Social Mining. For the next several years, a total of 350 Million Mithril will be distributed to users of the Mithril network through Social Mining.

Mithril tokens (MITH) will eventually be spendable across the Mithril application ecosystem, which will include things like dating services, premium content channels, and live-stream apps. Additionally, Mithril has created a Merchant Network that aims to allow retail acceptance of MITH as a payment method. The initial focus will be retailers in Taiwan and Hong Kong, starting with INST.RECYCLE.

The first application being built by the Mithril team is called Lit. Based on the Mithril whitepaper, the Lit app is designed as a quasi-hybrid between Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. There are a number of key features that work to drive user adoption, including:

Lit Camera / Video: Directly integrates with mobile device cameras and apply advanced and modern camera algorithms to give Lit users the tools and features to take the best-looking pictures.

Lit Story Feed: Allows users to have quick and easy access to stories across the social network. Designed to be the most popular features.

Lit Chatroom: Interactive chat system that can facilitate private conversations between friends in addition to hosting groups, and community chat rooms.

Lit Discover: Feature news, business, media, and celebrity story feeds based on the user’s current trending interests calculated via data collection algorithms or based on user selection.

Lit Profile: Main page for user’s personal data, managing and storing their current stories, shared stories, and saved user content.

Another key feature of the Mithril ecosystem is the Mithril Vault, which allows users to track, maintain and manage their MITH across multiple networks. This is essentially an easy-to-use transaction system.

This is a major development year for the project, according to the roadmap outlined in the Mithril whitepaper. It is interesting to note that Mithril aims to eventually move beyond Ethereum and create its own blockchain.

Team

Mithril was founded by the team behind 17 Media, a mobile app similar to Periscope and Instagram that is wildly popular in the Asian geographics, with advisors from Pantera Capital, Sora Ventures, QTUM Foundation, AMIS, and Blockstate. The project is led by Taiwan pop singer Jeffery Huang.

Token Financials

Mithril (MITH) currently has a market cap of ~$240 million with a circulating supply of 304,634,084 MITH and a total supply of 1,000,000,000 MITH.

Final Take

Mithril is looking to solve a significant unmet need, as social media creators are currently lacking any real monetization opportunities. Mithril is leveraging an experienced team with a track record of creating virally popular social media apps. Ultimately, Mithril’s token value will be directly attached to the level of adoption, both by creators and merchants.

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Disclaimer: The author(s) of this article may have a position in one or more of the cryptocurrencies mentioned above. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. Always conduct your own due diligence before making investments.