Foresting (PTON) ICO Review 2018: The Next-Gen Social Media Platform?

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? Public Sale: 10/09/18 to 10/10/18.

TotalCrypto Rating: 9/10

9/10 Price: 1 ETH = 333,333 PTON coins.

1 ETH = 333,333 PTON coins. Minimum contribution: 1 ETH

1 ETH Accepted contributions: ETH Only.

ETH Only. Token Type: ERC-20

ERC-20 Funding Goal: 90,000 to 170,000 ETH ($25.2 M – $47.5M @$200 ETH).

90,000 to 170,000 ETH ($25.2 M – $47.5M @$200 ETH). KYC: Yes.

Yes. Ticker: PTON

PTON Excluded ICO Countries: ?? ??

Full Disclosure TotalCrypto.io are working with Foresting as a contributor. No remuneration has been received for writing this article. However, we will receive PTON coins as a content contributor for the Foresting platform and have a vested interest in the success of this project. ICOs are inherently risky and you should do your own due diligence before choosing to invest.

Why Is Foresting Needed?

There is little doubt that social media is one of the most powerful innovations to have been established in the last ten years. Facebook alone has over 2.23 billion users – a staggering 30% of the world’s population. Incredibly, Facebook users read and write over three million articles every minute. Social media has changed the way we communicate forever, even in the way political campaigns are run and won.

Foresting aims to usher in the next generation of social media platform. Today, platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin all operate on an advertising-focused revenue model. The problem here is that this monetization method does little to reward the users.

The team at Foresting believe that it is the users and content creators that have made social media platforms so successful. You must ask yourself whether it is fair that the people who add the most value are excluded from platform rewards? Foresting intends to change all that by creating a social platform that focuses on a content-driven monetization model. This will reward the users that interact with the platform.

This means that if users post, like, share or curate great content, they will not simply receive digital ‘likes’. Instead, they will receive PTON cryptocurrency for their contribution to the Foresting platform. This can then be converted into cold hard cash. The result is a much fairer distribution of value.

Questioning Traditional Social Media Companies

Mark Zuckerberg declared that the goal of Facebook was to “Make the world more open and connected”. This sounds like a noble mission and it appears that Facebook has succeeded in reaching this goal. However, have you thought about who you are connected to when using a social media platform?

The truth is that you are not directly connected to the person you are talking to on a social platform. You are connected to data merchants, who relay your messages to the person you want to reach. It is this data that social media companies harvest and use to monetize their platforms.

For content creators: Do you own that great article you posted? If you think you do, we are sorry to disappoint you.

It’s no secret that social media platforms are big business and dominated by only a handful of companies. However, did you know that social media users have collectively generated over $1 trillion worth of value? Here are just a few figures for social media companies:

Who profits from this value? It is the founders and shareholders of these conglomerates and nearly nothing goes to the users who play a big role in driving the valuations in the first place. Foresting’s mission is to disrupt the old way of distributing value from social media platforms and create a fairer system.

The Problems Of Traditional Social Media

Nowadays, many young people aspire to be influencers. They see ‘successful’ content creators on social platforms such as YouTube and believe that creating a popular channel will lead to riches. The truth is that this is an illusion. One million YouTube views translates into just $2,000 in ad revenue (remember that only 0.33% of all videos reach such a lofty view count).

It’s also very hard for great niche content to be created. An ad-driven monetization model means that mainstream content is rewarded and niche content is not. In early 2018, YouTube went as far as to demonetize all smaller YouTube channels that failed to get 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watched content in 12 months.

The lack of revenue generating opportunities means that fewer people are able to pursue online content creation as a career. In turn, this leads to lower quality content and harms the diversity of topics covered. Indeed, if nothing changes being a content creator could be out of reach for everybody but the wealthy.

Traditional social media are actually data barons that sell your data to advertisers. This means that you are trusting these conglomerates to keep your harvested data safe. Recently, 87 million personal data records were accidentally leaked by Facebook. The problem is that once these records are publically available, there is not much that can be done to protect the privacy of individuals affected by the leak. This also leaves tens of millions of people exposed to risks such as identity theft and SPAM.

Ad Revenue Models Encourage Outrageous Content

To make money on traditional social media platforms the main way of measuring value is total views. This encourages content creators to focus on attention-grabbing or provocative content. The hope is that the content will be curated by other article writers and increase the view count.

Foresting’s focus on content-driven monetization models should put a stop to unsavory, low-value content created only to generate views.

How Is Foresting Disrupting Traditional Social Media?

Foresting aim to create a whole ecosystem focused on improving the overall quality of online content and a fairer distribution of social media value.

There are three main elements to the Foresting ecosystem.

#1 Social Media Platform

The Foresting social media platform is powered by blockchain technology. This not only increases transparency but means that users can also enjoy better security and privacy. By using blockchain, Foresting has made it possible to put a stop to data leaks and the selling of user data.

We think you’ll agree that the interface of the Foresting social media app is beautiful. Also, it requires no cryptocurrency knowledge whatsoever and all forms of content are supported. Platform users will be rewarded with PTON coins for interacting, down beating, up beating, sharing, commenting and posting content. Crucially, content creators on Foresting actually own the copyright to their posted content. Ownership of content is also recorded on the blockchain, so content ownership disputes will be easily settled.

Because content upvotes are recorded on the blockchain, this means there is greater transparency. This is exceptionally important for things like top 10 lists or music charts. The way the current internet works is that data is stored in the backend and is not publicly visible. So, how do you actually know that the top song in the music charts is actually number one? The problem is that it cannot be verified and curators have been accused in the past for manipulating music chart rankings. So, whats the incentive? Well, highly ranking items in authoritative lists tend to sell exceptionally well and marketers would be willing to pay to get a higher rank and increase sales.

Unlike other blockchain social media platforms like Steemit, Foresting have ensured that they have on-boarded contributors from many different niches. The team understands that the platform must appeal to those outside of cryptocurrency. Only then does it have a chance to become the next-gen social media platform.

What Other Features Will Be Supported?

Donations to content creators are exceptionally popular on platforms like Twitch. Foresting also allows creators to receive PTON donations on their content pages. This means that some creators could actually make a living through donations alone.

Another core feature of the social media platform is the open market for adverts. Advertisers can add their ads to the marketplace, submit proposals and contact content creators directly. Content creators can also look at the marketplace and select the ads they want to display on their content. In return, they will get a payment in PTON coins from the advertiser. This marketplace is exceptionally important because outside of investors speculating on the price of PTON, it is the advertisers that will be the buyers of the cryptocurrency. For advertisers the value proposition of PTON is simple, they need the crypto to buy placements for their ads on the Foresting platform.

In terms of users earning money on the platform. To put it simply, content creators who get upbeats on their content will earn PTON coins and so will the users that vote on content. The voters generate value to the platform by curating the content by upvoting or downvoting it.

#2 Foresting Bank

The truth is that most full-time content creators are self-employed. This means they have fixed living costs, but have variable income. As explored earlier in this article, traditional social media platforms do not pay content creators well. The result is that many are struggling to make ends meet.

Foresting believes that to take social media content creation to the next level, that contributors to the platform should be supported financially. The team has devised a new form of credit rating that is based on the user’s contribution to Foresting. This means that regular contributors on Foresting have a safety net. Efforts can be focused on creating excellent content rather than worrying about paying their rent.

#3 Foresting Lab

There are many costs associated with being a content creator. Workspace, cameras, lighting, microphones, and instruments all can cost a lot of money. Foresting Labs will be real-world hubs that include workspace and tools for content makers. Crucially access to the labs will be entirely free for Foresting contributors. This ensures that financial obstacles are removed and creators can continue producing quality content.

The Team

The Foresting project already has a massive team made up of 42 team members, 25 advisors, and 100 contributors. We did go through and assess the entire Foresting team before agreeing to be a contributor to the project and we certainly think they have all the talent they need to succeed. Due to space limitations, we’ll just focus on the project’s founders.

David Kim – Founder: David, specializes in M&A investment and incubating companies. He is also CEO of 500V, which is a South Korean incubator focused on building, scaling and IPO’ing promising businesses. We are sure that David’s experience in accelerating the growth of businesses will prove a valuable asset in the Foresting project.

Daniel Eom – CEO & Co-Founder: Daniel graduated with a degree in business and economics from the California State University. After graduating he then went on to work at McKinsey for three years as a business analyst, before moving onto 500V and moving up the ranks. There is little doubt that Daniel knows what it takes to build and scale successful businesses.

Jimmy Kim – Co-Founder: Jimmy is also CEO of Startup Radar (a technology media company with over 100,000 Facebook followers) and 500V2. Publishing great content and building strong businesses is what Jimmy is about and that’s exactly what’s needed to take Foresting from a vision to reality.

TJ Park – Co-Founder: TJ began his career after graduating from Ohio State University with a BA in communications. He then went on to spend 10 years as the Director of Recruitment at Samsung. Right now he balances his co-founder responsibilities at Foresting with being CEO of SR Innovation.

There is one thing the Foresting founders have in common: they all have vast experience in building successful businesses.

The Foresting ICO Details:

Sadly, if you are from the US or China you will have to wait until the PTON coin is publically traded to get exposure to the project. Investors will be buying PTON coins, which will be issued as ERC-20 tokens. This means that you will need an Ethereum wallet like MyEtherWallet to participate in the ICO.

The Foresting ICO only accepts contributions in ETH and the minimum investment is one Ethereum. The standard rate at ICO will be 1 ETH = 33,333 PTON coins. All investors will have to undergo a KYC check. This involves sending in a copy of your ID and a proof of address no more than 3 months old.

The public sale is set to start on the 10th of September 2018. The public and pre-sale of tokens will see 40% of the token supply sold. Overall there will be a max supply of 24 billion PTON coins.

The Investment Case For Foresting

Traditional social media companies have a combined valuation of over $1 trillion. However, all these companies face the same problems:

An unequal distribution of social media platform value. Right now, it is the shareholders and founders that are reaping the financial gains.

Having custody of 100’s of millions of people’s personal data which is bought and sold to advertisers without our consent. The truth is that our personal data is not safe, Facebook has experienced data leaks and compromised the privacy of 10’s of millions of users.

Content creators get paid poorly under the traditional system and do not own the copyright to their content.

Social media users get no remuneration whatsoever for their interactions with social media.

Advertising revenue models encourage the creation of outrageous content in the hopes it will go viral, reducing the incentive to create high-quality content.

Content creators cannot accurately track the value that their content is adding to social media platforms.

The Foresting ecosystem provides a solution to all these problems and more. The driving force behind the project is to support the creation of better content through initiatives like the Foresting Bank and Lab. Ideologically, Foresting is all about a fair distribution of the value generated by social media. Instead of only shareholders and founders lining their pockets, shouldn’t the people who contribute be rewarded too?

Foresting is trying to disrupt an exceptionally valuable industry. Even 1% market share should result in $10 billion worth of traditional valuation. We think the Foresting project solves a big real-world problem, with a beautiful solution and is led by a great team. The project doesn’t have a working product yet. However, you won’t have to wait long until the Beta version is launched:

Final Word

We love how Foresting outlines and proposes solutions to tackle the shortcomings of traditional social media and is deploying a fair distribution of value. Everyone loves to have access to great digital content and Foresting are providing an ecosystem to help support that goal.

For now, you have little choice but to keep using traditional social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. However, if you want the chance to create a fairer world and reward the people who make social media great, then do consider supporting the Foresting ecosystem. The future of social media is in your hands. If people vote with their feet, then Foresting could well become the Facebook killer we know it can be. Will you lead the new wave or choose to support traditional social media?

Further Reading At TotalCrypto.io 1) Do You Like The Idea Of A Decentralized Internet? Well, You Might Want To Look At The nOS ICO. 2) Whilst You Are Waiting For Your ICO Gains: Why Not Try Out Leveraged Trading On Bitmex? 3) What Are Our Top Five Cryptocurrencies For 2018? Find Out All About Them In Our Exclusive Editorial.

Resources

Below we’ve listed some key resources relevant to PTON Coin.

? Safest PTON Wallets

The safest way to store your coins is by using a hardware wallet. The two main brands are Trezor and Ledger and we are happy to recommend both. If you need help choosing between the two just read our Trezor Vs Ledger guide.

? Best Free Wallets

As PTON coin is a ERC-20 token, you can use any wallet that is compatible with Ethereum.

MyEtherWallet – if you need help getting started we have you covered with our MEW wallet guide.

? Best Crypto Tracking App For PTON Token

Blockfolio IOS Android

Delta IOS Android



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DISCLAIMER: Be aware that the activity of cryptoassets mentioned in this article is unregulated. This article must not be construed as investment advice. Always do your own research.

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