Next week, a new chapter in the history of Swelly begins. We are entering the world of Blockchain.

Social Networks & content sharing platforms have become a commodity.

Unless you’re a brand or a business owner, you’ve probably never spent money using Facebook, Snapchat, Whatsapp, Tik Tok etc.

‘Free to use’ became the standard for most online services and yet we all pay a big price for that. Not only are we constantly exposed to ads — often times for products we can’t relate to and couldn’t care less about — we are also treated like a product that can be sold to the highest bidder. No matter if it’s a harmless consumer product that tries to understand us to an extent that allows them to manipulate us to buy what they want us to, or a political party that manages to impact an election and leaves us surprised and shocked with the results.

You feel like that’s wrong? Unfair? Crazy? Well, we’ve done this to ourselves. Now, the good news is, that this can — and I strongly believe will — change. Blockchain technology and a decentralized internet are our biggest chance for change.

Think of a Social Network that manages to monetize by simply taking a percentage of the value its community generates. A place where users decide about what kind of content they want to see and what kind of brands should be allowed inside a community. And more.

Next week, we are going to launch our latest Swelly App on Product Hunt. Swelly 5.0 allows you to join a Photo Sharing Platform that rewards its active members for their contribution.

Almost 10 million people around the world (~ 30% US, 40% Europe & UK,…) have been using Swelly over the last few years and have helped us understand how to build, maintain and grow an online community. Here’s some of our users: