Introduction
An introduction to Waivlength - The hub of Web3 social!
Overview
Waivlength is an autonomous social platform built on blockchain creating a fairer and more rewarding network for its community. A platform which is profit-sharing, owned and governed by its community. The platform has many unique features and will enable users to form tightly-knit communities and receive better rewards for using the application and contributing to the network.
Waivlength is built on Algorand and incorporates its own cryptocurrency (WAIV) on the platform. This allows for decentralised storage of data to make user data more secure and also means users can be financially rewarded for the value they bring to the network via WAIV and other cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.
Waivlength also shares platform profits with its community with the ultimate goal of creating an autonomous and more user-centric space to connect where the incentives of all participants in the network are truly aligned.
This is Web3 social, ready to lead the next generation of the internet.
Problem
It’s becoming generally accepted that today’s social network models are not sustainable. The rent-seeking nature of current platforms does not have a fair ecosystem for its user base to be recognised for the value they bring to the platform. The governing platforms collect enormous profits, while the userbase get no meaningful share.
Governing platforms take the profits, but they also own all the data. Users and top creators are at the mercy of centralised decision making, policy changes, changes in curation algorithms and moderation protocols. Their personal data is also collected to be used by third-parties for targeting. There is no transparency and users hold no power or true ownership over their data.
Of the current decentralised platforms that have tried to offer solutions to these issues, they have failed to scale for a variety of reasons. To the fore are reduced budgets from a lack of platform-generated revenue, complicated user interfaces, ineffective or complete lack of moderation protocols and poorly designed tokenomics of the integrated cryptocurrency.
Rewarding contributions from users
Users provide all the value to these social platforms but enjoy none of the profits or rewards. Only the most elite top creators get a tiny slice of the rewards pool. The value and engagement they create only serves to increase the profitability of the governing platform through the sale of advertisements and does not recognise them fairly for the value they add to the platform.
Content creators with large followings are forced to look externally for ways of monetising their work. This often means conforming to existing consumerism strategies of personally endorsing or advertising products. Often, contrary to their ideals, creators are forced to sell out on part of their identity in order to earn.
Top creators who need to earn from their work are becoming less willing to share their content on mainstream channels that offer no financial return. This means the content we see on established platforms like Facebook and Twitter is likely to continue to wane in quality. It’s likely Facebook sees this shift on the horizon.
Earlier this year it pledged $1 Billion to creator pool programs between Facebook and Instagram. This looks like a generous offering on the surface, but based on a recent report released by A16Z - 2022 State of Crypto, this distribution works out on average at $0.10 per user.
Data, Transparency, Security and User Control
While giving up some personal data and content for free access to use a social media platform didn’t initially feel like a big deal, the scope of data harnessing and unethical means of monetising this is only really starting to be known. In increasingly profit-driven models of current mainstream platforms, user data and profiling has turned the user into the product.
Cross-platform data tracking has manipulated the users personal data and privacy for means of ad targeting and monetisation. Platform dynamics are such to keep their users scrolling and engaging, increase time spent on site and monetise this through the selling of ads. Their data has been used to create digital profiles of themselves, sold to the third-parties.
The average user has no concept of how their data is used. There is a clear lack of transparency. Updated privacy policies manipulate users to share more and more information for continued use of the site. Awareness has been brought to this through Netflix documentaries like The Social Dilemma and The Great Hack, and there is growing distrust about how leading social media companies are using our data.
Due to the centralised model of governance and the volume of data in storage, this makes these leading social media sites vulnerable to significant data breaches. Security becomes a concern here with many past examples of intrusions with theft of personal data from millions of users, files stored on unprotected servers, unlimited access by very unsavoury actors etc.
Users have essentially no control over the order in which content appears on their feeds. They are at the mercy of closed-source algorithm-curated feeds. There is demand for a more user-centric model which puts control back in the hands of the user.
Existing Decentralised Platforms
Many new social platforms have tried to preserve user privacy and compete against big-tech. Most platforms in this space have opted for a decentralised model of governance, i.e. no one body/company holds access to all the data. There have been different means of decentralising data and power. They fall into three main categories - Peer to Peer, Blockchain and Federated/Distributed.
All of these platforms have failed to scale-up to compete with the top players for a variety of reasons. One of the main reasons is a lack of platform-generated revenue. Without the same budget for marketing, upkeep, and design, it has failed to attract and retain large numbers of users. This means platforms are often left with confusing UI/UX and are less user-friendly to those who are not tech savvy. Generally these decentralised platforms are reliant on donations and transactions on the governing token to generate revenue for platform maintenance.
Another issue faced by a number of decentralised platforms is moderation. Typically, moderation and censorship is largely removed, or community driven. Some of these platforms like Minds and Diaspora* have been infiltrated by extremists, criminal gangs and coordinated crime networks. In extreme cases, when neglected, this can turn into ‘the decentralised web of hate’. Certainly not the inclusive culture that a social network aspires to.
Solution
A social platform where the incentives of the network owners and network participants are fully aligned. A platform that embodies everything that is Web 3.0. The core concepts of which are decentralisation, openness, shared ownership and governance and greater user utility.
Waivlength is built on the blockchain and integrates its own cryptocurrency on the platform to enable a community-led autonomous ecosystem. It is a fairer and more rewarding platform which gives power back to the user. It gives its community economic incentives and rewards for contributing positively to maintaining and growing the network.
Data is stored securely on the blockchain and privacy is maintained. There is no personal information stored or sold to third parties. There is greater transparency and user control with open and secure protocols for recognising contributions to the network. The platform will also employ a novel community-moderation protocol with the view to progress to shared governance in the future.
Waivlength will prioritise a seamless UI/UX for transitioning to Web3 for new users and it's generated revenue will be used to fund development and growth of the network. It has features designed to maintain the integrity of the platform through economic incentives and its tokenomics are also carefully designed to help the network scale and grow for many years.
Financial Rewards for Users
Social platforms are only as good as the people and the content that is on them. It is only right that those who create the most value to the platform get rewarded for it. Waivlength intends to reward its users better than any current social platforms. >50% of its cryptocurrency supply is dedicated to its community and it will distribute 100% of platform profits back to its community in time.
Users can earn cryptocurrency rewards by engaging and positively contributing to the Waivlength network. All contributions are recognised through the platform's Social Consensus Protocol, an open and secure protocol designed to recognise each user's overall contribution to the network and direct the distribution of rewards to each user accordingly. This protocol automates this decision-making process and cannot be interfered or tampered with. A transparent and fairer model designed to reward those contributing most positively to the network.
Examples of actions that will be recognised by the protocol will include:
Daily active usage and interactions with your communities
Time spent actively using the application
Quantity & Staking history of $WAIV in wallet
Consistent interactions across multiple servers
Positive reactions received on communications
Active participation in the moderation of Waivlength
Data, Transparency, Security and User Control
Waivlength will not collect any personal information on its users. It will not sell user data to third parties. Nor will it track activity across platforms. The data it collects will be used to inform the Social Consensus Protocol to optimise the user experience and rewards mechanism. There will be transparent use of data and users will be able to opt in/out on how information is presented/targeted to them in the future.
To improve security and privacy of user data, Waivlength will have decentralised storage of data. This will reduce the risk of large data breaches and uphold the privacy of users to a much greater degree than current mainstream platforms.
A Decentralised Platform Suitable for Large Scale-up
Waivlength will streamline the onboarding process to allow users to seamlessly create/connect their Web3 wallet to the platform. An intuitive and familiar UI/UX is a priority here to allow for mass adoption of those new to crypto.
The Tokenomics of the platform’s native WAIV token will ensure a multi-year phased rollout of supply, appropriate vesting periods for strategic partners and early investors and generous staking and holding rewards to ensure stability of the token. This will ensure scalability for many years and the potential for a future marketplace within the platform.
Maintaining Platform Integrity
Protecting the integrity of the platform from hate speech, misinformation, spam, bots and duplicate accounts is essential for a functional social network. Waivlength recognises the importance of this and has features to guard against this.
The onboarding process will include a simple authentication process to eliminate bots from the platform. It will also link a users account specifically to their device, ensuring a second profile cannot be operated from the same device. This will act as a barrier towards duplicate accounts and help maintain the platform from bad actors and secondary spam accounts.
The features of the platform, complimented by the social consensus protocol, will guard against the spread of misinformation and spam.
Waivlength gives each user the opportunity to opt-in for ‘jury duty’. Those signed up for jury duty have a dashboard attached to their profile that autofills with newly generated reports. Jurors review the report and give their verdict. A case is not closed until it reaches a consensus beyond a certain threshold.
All jurors are required to complete a brief induction while opting-in for jury duty to familiarise themselves with the terms of service, code of conduct and grading system.
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