3 min read

We’re living in the age of social media. That is a proven fact. Almost every facuet of our lives is someway influenced or shaped by social media and the information we draw from our experiences with it.

Currently, there are several prominent social media platforms available for users to use. More than there’s ever been in fact. However, not all are seen to be uniformly ideal, and many have their drawbacks.

For example, Snapchat has received plenty of criticism over its marketing push on users. Another popular app, WhatsApp, considered a more direct rival to Kik- the originator of the KIN Foundation- is owned by Facebook, and such an association makes many want to avoid it.

Both of these apps require user information such as mobile numbers and email addresses to be able to have full usage. To avoid this intrusion, KIK focuses on anonymity and privacy, and as a result has created KIN to reward content creators directly, thus removing the need for middlemen and third-party intermediaries.

KIN aims for monetization by targeting the attention economy, by placing the right content in front of the correct individuals at the appropriate time.

The KIN token will immediately be used by its considerable size of KIK users, over 18 million at time of writing. This is very rare in the cryptocurrency space for a token to launch into such a consolidated target and current audience.

By targeting an audience which is mostly made of teenagers in the 13-24 age group, KIN’s adoption could be sped up rapidly due to the characteristics of such ages. If KIN is proving to be a successful product which brings value to the user experience, such a response will spread actively among teenage users. Such adoption is akin to the ‘Network effect’- the more people use KIN, the more valuable the tokens will become.

If KIN tokens can grow beyond the Kik platform and is used in other applications and platforms, the potential upside could be substantial. The token has the backing of an array of successful and well-regarded investors such as Tencent and Pantera, and such market makers will provide sufficient support for a successful KIN venture.

Concerns do remain, such as the very high valuation- for the token to bring profitability for investors; it will need to grow massively and beyond the Kik platform. This is no doubt, a challenging task.

While the inflationary nature of the KIN tokens could prove to be an obstacle for some.

Despite these challenges, KIN has most significantly a ready market to aim into. Backed by a competent and an avid customer base, there is a high potential for KIN to establish prominence in the highly competitive social media space.

Source