Anyone will face an interesting challenge when embarks on the adventure of creating a decentralized social network. First of all he or she should build a user-friendly and secure experience while remembering that social networks are meant to be fun and connect people. When you want to set a social network apart from competitors by leveraging Web 3.0 and SSI technologies.
We spent several years researching these technologies, exploring decentralized and cryptographic approaches that could benefit people.
For a while I was confused by the task that seemed completely new or forgotten — to add something spicy to the product.
Although, I realized that I came to one of the most familiar places.
The picture is more like the "back of the napkin" considerations — rather than some deep design and analysis
What underlines human mechanics that move social networks
Humans are complex beings with various facets, making it hard to grasp the fundamental mechanisms that govern our actions. Despite the extensive literature on the subject, we aimed to highlight the key human characteristics necessary for creating an engaging social network experience. By incorporating these characteristics into the framework of the social network concept, we envisioned features that would attract potential users. Our objective was not just to list these characteristics but to establish meaningful connections between them.
Craving for a new experience
Humans are driven by curiosity, intellect, and the joy of learning, which lead us to seek new experiences. Our innate curiosity fuels our desire to be engaged and surprised. Recognizing the importance of satisfying this fundamental human characteristic, we think that every social network needs to provide users with new experiences created by others.
Short attention and will span
Given the fleeting nature of attention, new decentralized social networks should leverage micro-interactions. Users could participate in short polls, challenges, and visually appealing posts that captured attention within seconds. Personalized push notifications were strategically timed to entice users back to the platform with interesting updates. Additionally, gamified elements like short-duration quizzes and instant rewards should encourage active participation, making the most of users' limited time and attention.
Ownership addiction
To cater to the human desire for ownership, a hypothetical social network should introduce a virtual economy. Within the platform, users could create, buy, and sell digital assets, including artwork, music, virtual real estate, and unique collectibles. These transactions should be facilitated by smart contracts, ensuring secure ownership records on a blockchain and instilling trust and authenticity. Users could showcase their collections in user-designed virtual spaces, fostering a sense of pride and accomplishment.
Currency bound logic
The foundation of a new social network should rely on a virtual currency. Let’s call it "Social coins." Users earned social coins through various activities such as content creation, community engagement, and participation in challenges. Social coins could be used to access premium content, attend exclusive events, or even make donations to charitable causes on the platform. Users could also tip content creators to reward them for their creativity and efforts. The transparency provided by blockchain technology ensured the integrity of Social coins transactions, building trust in users' interactions within the social network.
Vanity
We could call it "self-esteem," but that wouldn't sound as appealing. Comparing ourselves to others using virtual and mental scores satisfies our instinct to survive by setting benchmarks. It pushes us to improve ourselves. Social networks should allow us to compare ourselves with others, inspiring us to better ourselves and fulfilling our desire for positive evaluation by showcasing our successes. We examined these properties inherent in all social networks but sought to add something new that would naturally interact with existing properties, creating fresh experiences.
Scarcity aware
Scarcity should be cleverly integrated into new social network experience through limited-time events and exclusivity. We suggest to introduce limited edition virtual items, event tickets, and access passes, instilling users with a sense of urgency and anticipation. Challenges based on scarcity could encourage competition, fostering collaboration to achieve common goals. Live auctions for rare digital artifacts can be regularly held, creating a vibrant marketplace where scarcity becomes an opportunity, driving engagement and excitement.
Storytelling
Within a new social network, storytelling reached the level of an art form. Users could weave together text, images, videos, and interactive elements to create intricate, multimedia-rich narratives. These user-generated stories could be organized into interactive story arcs, where readers could influence the direction of the storyline through their choices. Users had the opportunity to contribute chapters to large, community-driven narratives.
Afterwords
We’d not suggest relying on our list of human traits that make social networks work as a final truth.
It’s our humble opinion. It's the result of quite superficial analysis and recollections of knowledge.
Thus, we would be happy if you correct us, add something, or argue with us, if the topic is interesting to you.