Decentralizing Content

Could big online platforms such as Facebook, SnapChat, TikTok and YouTube have reached multi-billion-dollar valuations without the content posted by their users?

Those users—whose posts, photos, and videos give platforms, such as Facebook, its value, those users do not directly own the platform, however.

The owners of centralized online platforms have provided tools that allow creative individuals to share content, build an audience and earn money in a myriad of ways, which in turn increases the platforms profits. Those platforms are now worth an estimated 100 billion dollars.

There are an estimated 50 million career creators around the world, and it is the fourth most-sought-after career, for example, among British children aged 7-11.

Known as the creator economy, creators’ impact is eclipsing that of traditional media.  Some YouTube channels, for example, have over 30 million subscribers, and some of the most popular videos have more than 2 billion views.

Contrast that by the average daily numbers of those who watch prime time news.

Despite the direct contribution to the overall value of these platforms as the result of uploading massive amounts of content that engages, content creators who contribute see very little of the profits.

Imagine a future in which creator platforms are owned and operated by its users, who collectively build, operate, and co-own the platforms. This would shift the balance of power between centralized platforms and their minions of users. 

According to an article in the Economist by Li Jin, Founder of Atelier Ventures:

“To date, co-operative ownership has struggled because of challenges in scaling up decision-making and governance, and in attracting investment. But new technologies promise to remove these barriers. Decentralized networks, like those that underpin cryptocurrencies, allow ownership to be distributed via tokens, which are earned for contributions to the network and which often confer governance rights. It may sound futuristic and abstract, but it is already happening.

In 2022 new, decentralized networks serving the creator economy will reach a tipping-point. The democratization of wealth-building assets through token distribution is an appealing prospect. For innovators, rewarding users with ownership can help attract the enormous user bases that will enable these new platforms to outcompete existing, centralized ones. Creator ownership eliminates the conflict between platforms and participants and ensures that growth benefits all stakeholders. In the coming months and years, creators will realize and harness their power, leading to the birth of a new set of platforms that confer ownership and control—and treat creators as first-class citizens.”

Intended Audience

Just as a content platform should be concerned about its content creators, the content creators should be just as concerned about their intended audience.

Creating a User Utopia is a high ideal. Uniformly giving all content equal opportunity, however, waters down the demand for content due to a humongous oversupply.

And content doesn’t automatically sell itself. Even though automation and artificial intelligence will continue to disrupt every field, quality content will need to rise to the surface in order to stand out from the crowded field.

For quality content to rise above the seemingly never-ending stream of quantity supply, a greater consideration for the intended audience should be more important than ever.