https://twitter.com/cryptoAcorns/status/1323758472958271495?s=20
I wrote about Incentivizing human curation with Bitcoin in the summer of 2020, and since then more mechanisms to earn Bitcoin SV via information curation have emerged. TwetchDat, which has been used over 15,000 times as of November 30, 2020, has recently received an update where those who use the bot to archive tweets to Twetch can earn.
UPDATE ALERT 🚨
Money earned from twetchdat posts now goes directly to the person who twetchdatted it
To activate earnings, turn on Tweet from Twetch in your settings
Get tweet from twetch 👇 https://t.co/MWGED6X3Rp
— Twetch (@twetchapp) November 12, 2020
As mentioned in the above article, previously users only earned if another used TwetchDat on a tweet they first manually archived. Now users can earn for replying to a tweet with ‘@twetchdat’ with only the upfront cost of purchasing tweet from Twetch for $1.
Additionally, if the Twitter user has linked their Twetch account and one uses TwetchDat on their tweet and that tweet receives engagement on Twetch, the Twitter user and curator both earn, splitting the revenue 50-50.
@twetchapp is just beautiful.
I archive twitter posts which I think might be very interesting or of historical importance just by replying @twetchdat and I even earn money because people like those twetches.
I do it for free, yet I earn.
— Pepo.79 (@pepoliopo) November 29, 2020
Ark recently launched their web application. Ark has built in curation incentives which can be read about here, but they also have a tool for archiving tweets on the ledger. Reply to the last tweet of a thread with:
@arktobitcoin thread
Ark Threads will reply with a confirmation tweet just as TwetchDat does. TwetchDat’s usage is for single tweets while Ark’s is for threads, much like the popular Thread reader app.
Currently these threads are posted in the Ark app under a twitter-threads account with no link to the user who requested the archival. Hopefully, we see Ark implement a solution so that curators can earn from discovering educational Twitter threads.
We also have Windbell where an RSS feed, YouTube channel or Twitter account can be setup to auto-Twetch (thus archive) posts as long as one is willing to fund it. Two incentives exist—the first is to curate valuable information. The second is the opportunity for the creator of the Windbell to earn from subsequent engagement of those posts on Twetch.
Additionally, if users decide to craft aggregations of different feeds (named Mixes) then each original creator of a Windbell in that Mix earns. Furthermore, if others subscribe to the Mix, the one who crafted the Mix earns BSV for each person who subscribes to that Mix. Learn more about the mechanisms here.
With the implementation of tools that have incentives to discover valuable information, the quality of content must be observed. Generally, the information curated by Ark, TwetchDat and Windbell are of higher quality and more interesting.
Some of the content may be subjectively valuable, but the fact that this information only gets stamped to the ledger if one is willing to pay for it must be taken into account. The TwetchDat account has over 200 followers on Twetch, which means that many people were willing to give up 10 cents to have its Twetches display on their feed. Several Windbells (like Donald Trump’s Twitter) stay topped up with satoshis so that the U.S. President’s tweets are auto-archived given Twitter’s blatant censorship tactics. The Twitter threads in the Ark app are objectively interesting and educational.
While users of these applications can earn and profit from curation, that is not the primary benefit, that is the incentive. The true value is the collection of information that those curators have found valuable. With Bitcoin’s immutable nature and innate incentive structures, this information can potentially last lifetimes.
See also: CoinGeek Live panel, Re-Invent the Internet: New Models for Digital Media & User Content
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