The new creator economy is thriving, but artists are often left in the lurch by conventional social media platforms. Marcin Kowalczyk is a blockchain regulatory analyst and writer. He digs into whether “Own,” a decentralized social media platform, could offer a more equitable revenue-sharing model with creators and truly challenge the status quo. He provides cutting-edge legal analysis and user-focused appraisals to help meet the challenges of creating a widely adopted successful decentralized platform. Beyond that, he arms creators with actionable tips on how to measure up new opportunities. DeliciousNFT.com aims to provide the real bite of the decentralized world, skipping the hype and focusing on delivering the hottest NFT drops, daring Web3 experiments, no-BS dApp reviews, and sharp global regulatory insights.
Decentralization: A New Hope for Creators?
Here’s how decentralized platforms can improve upon the centralized behemoths like TikTok for the sake of creators. These advantages are focused on and prioritizing providing more control to creators, more equitable distribution of value back to creators.
Benefits of Decentralized Platforms
Decentralized, open platforms put user privacy front and center, protecting creators while providing them complete ownership of their data. Platforms like TikTok do the opposite. They turn user data into a highly profitable commodity. They use that data primarily to sell us targeted advertising. That’s what makes our model so different. Decentralized platforms are more resistant to censorship, allowing creators to express themselves freely without fear of arbitrary content moderation policies. This is especially attractive to creators who are frustrated by what feels like a capricious hand of fate with often hidden rules of centralized platforms. Decentralized platforms like Ethereum and Solana offer a robust, flexible infrastructure for building dApps. This opens up huge potential for creators to architect new experiences and connect with their fans directly in ways never seen before.
Challenges for Decentralized Platforms
Even with potential, there are significant obstacles to creating an effective decentralized social media platform. Uncertainty is creativity’s worst enemy, and it could kill Own’s chance of attracting the best creators. Creators are only going to flourish within spaces where they feel safe and supported. If the platform is overly complicated, buggy, or cumbersome, it could face difficulties in adoption. Own might have to make complicated concepts simple to tug at creators’ heartstrings, like Joko does so brilliantly. User experience is key, and a bad, clunky, or confusing interface will scare away new adopters quicker than you can say “implementation.”
Evaluating New Platforms: A Guide for Creators
For creators considering a move to a new platform like Own, Marcin Kowalczyk suggests a strategic approach to evaluating the potential benefits and risks. It’s not just about cost or community support. This helps guarantee a seamless transition and a truly remarkable return on investment.
Key Considerations for Creators
Before making a selection on a technology, consider the costs and administrative burden needed to get it off the ground. This comes with tremendous financial costs. It requires your time and effort to learn the platform as well as adapt your existing content to fit. Creators should rate technologies collaboratively. Bring your whole team together to score technologies against each other with a built-in rating function, such as ITONICS Radar. Evaluate each technology against criteria like “Business Opportunities,” “Field of Application,” “In-House Expertise” and “Impact Potential.” Determine cost savings OPEX/CAPEX. With limited capacity for overhead costs, a platform that minimizes those expenses can make a world of difference on a creator’s bottom line.
The Importance of Community and ROI
A healthy, engaged community is a perk of any platform—one that can offer support, inspiration, and opportunities to grow their craft. For example, choose a platform with a strong developer ecosystem, such as the number of its NPM packages exceeding 400+. Make sure the platform has the capacity to deliver a measurable return on investment (ROI). Creators need to see tangible benefits from switching platforms, whether it's increased revenue, greater reach, or more control over their content.
Taking Control of Your Career
At the end of the day, we want creators to succeed and that starts with them doing their own due diligence and taking charge of their career. This means having the right platform, but committing to a future-forward mindset and putting time and energy into self-development.
Mindset and Investment
Creators will have to come to terms and fight against their existing situations to decide to move to Own. I know change can be intimidating, but it’s usually the most exciting part of progress. No matter the artistic form, accountability for their work and decisions often falls on creators, and that’s no easy task. This involves everything from running their business, branding and marketing their work, to guarding against intellectual property theft. Own will need to support creators in keeping momentum and focus on what’s most important to them, as the creation process can involve time sensitive scenarios. If powered by an ecosystem, the platform should offer tools and resources that equip creators to maintain focus and avoid burnout. The best investment you can make is in yourself.
Long-Term Strategies
Invest in yourself. Lifelong learning and upskilling will be highly important to keeping up in the ever-changing creator economy. Consider including a diversity requirement in employment contracts. Make sure they’re consistent with general shareholder interests and maximize longterm profit. While this may seem counterintuitive for individual creators, understanding the business side of the industry is crucial for long-term success. Reinvent employment contracts to better serve the express purpose of corporate executives’ behavior, setting them in tune with shareholders’ profit-maximizing desires. Creating this alignment, in turn, will lead to stronger business outcomes. This tenet extends to how creators build their individual companies and collaborations. Aim for an abundance mentality to both push yourself and be receptive to the right opportunities. An optimistic mindset allows creators to rise above each obstacle and invite bigger opportunities in.
