Block.one, the firm behind EOS, launches social media app
Block.one is the latest firm to announce that it is trying to bring the social media and blockchain worlds together.
Block.one, the startup behind the EOS blockchain, announced a new social media application on Saturday, according to a company statement.
Just like other social media platforms, Block.one’s app, dubbed Voice, allows users to post and share content. The firm claims that real users, instead of bots, will be using the platform, possibly referring to the prevalent problems of fake accounts on traditional social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. User activities will also be registered on the EOS blockchain, potentially giving them more control over the information they share, according to Bloomberg.
“The truth is, current social media platforms are designed to use their users,” said CEO of Block.one Brendan Blumer. “Just look at the business model. Our content. Our data. Our attention. These are all incredibly valuable things. But right now, it’s the platform, not the user, that reaps the reward. By design, they run by auctioning our information to advertisers, pocketing the profit, and flooding our feeds with hidden agendas dictated by the highest bidder. Voice changes that.”
Elsewhere, Kik, a Canada-based startup, operates a messaging app associated with its own Kin tokens. Messaging app Telegram is also developing its own blockchain. It recently released a test client for its Telegram Open Network (TON) and plans to launch it in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Facebook is working its own cryptocurrency, GlobalCoin, which could launch by 2020, per a BBC report.
Block.one’s move into the social media space coincides with the rising criticism against traditional social media platforms such as Facebook regarding its handling of user data. The smaller firm is said to have $3 billion assets, which may put it in a strong financial position as it launches the new effort to tap into the social media market.
Bloomberg first reported on the news.
