CoinGeek London 2020: Josh Petty delves into future of social networks on Bitcoin

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On February 21 at the CoinGeek London Conference, Josh Petty, the co-founder and CEO of Twetch took the stage to talk about The Future of Social networks on Bitcoin. Let’s take a look at a few of the talking points and themes of Petty’s talk.

The Internet does not care about its users

“The internet has turned into a bad place,” said Petty. “Internet users produce value for billion-dollar companies, but they get nothing in return.” 

Internet users generate significant amounts of money for tech giants like Google and Facebook; people use these platforms for “free,” but that is because they are the product. The information that users of these websites enter, as well as the content that they create and publish, is harvested by the tech giants and sold to a third party (like the government). Internet users never receive a share of the money that they generate for these tech giants—but Bitcoin changes that.

How Bitcoin restructures social networks

On Bitcoin, you own your data, you cannot be censored, and all of your actions are immutable. These features that are inherent to Bitcoin can revolutionize social media networks. When you own your data, you can monetize your data. Instead of tech giants like Facebook and Twitter profiting off of the information that you have put into their system, Bitcoin provides you with an easy avenue to earn the value within your data.

For instance, on Twetch, when a user likes your content or follows you, you earn revenue. The transaction is peer-to-peer; the individual who likes your content or follows you, sends a micropayment directly to you, with a small fraction of the total transaction costs going to the BSV network because it costs money to write data to the chain.

Petty then showed an example of one Twetch user who started using the platform with $10 in her account but was able to grow that amount to over $450 due to the content she created and the way others interacted with it.

You cannot be censored on Bitcoin: Twetch is a free speech platform

On social media networks built on Bitcoin, you cannot be censored. All of the information you publish through the bitcoin-based social media network is written to the blockchain. That being said, you can always access your data on the BSV chain, even if you leave a Bitcoin-based social media network or request that your account be deleted for whatever reason that may be.

On YouTube and Twitter, you can be banned for publishing content that the platform does not agree with. Just recently, YouTube temporarily banned all cryptocurrency-related accounts. Some people’s livelihoods depend on the revenue they generate from social media networks. When they are censored due to topics they wanted to discuss, this upends their primary income stream.

The ideal social network is built on Bitcoin

The ideal social media network is built on Bitcoin, or at the very least, incorporates the features that bitcoin naturally enables; the ability to earn revenue, automatic data ownership, immutability, censorship resistance, and decentralization.

On several social media networks, the company that has created the network is profiting off of your data without giving you a percentage of the revenue you are generating for them. There is a central point of failure. And if a platform decides that your content is too extreme for the platform, then they can terminate your account—on Bitcoin, this is not a problem.

And Twetch is at the forefront of bitcoin-based social media; allowing users to earn revenue from their data and giving them a censorship-resistant free speech platform, Twetch is revolutionizing the world of social media. For what might be the first time in history, artists, influencers, and creators can profit off of their content and information.

And finally, Twetch has recently opened its platform to the public. Previously interested users had to apply to be a part of the Twetch closed beta, but now, any individual can sign up for Twetch as long as they are invited by a friend already using the platform. 

If you are interested in using Twetch to earn revenue for your social media posts and to receive censorship resistance, I recommend that you sign up now.