Decentralized Social Networks – Boon OR Bane?

Anshul Mehta

• 3 min read
Decentralized Social Networks – Boon OR Bane?
Photo by Shubham Dhage / Unsplash

With Web 3.0 taking over the internet, blockchain technology and decentralization is the new norm.

Blockchain technology has found applications in lots of fields, and social media networks are not far behind.

Traditional social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat etc. have amassed millions of users in the past decade or so, but usage of these platforms is not without its considerations:

  1. Data Ownership : When you post something to a social network, you hand over control of your data to that social media platform. Your data is now on their servers, and they can do with it as they please. These platforms may also resort to selling data, like usage analytics, behavioral data, trend analyses etc. to other parties.
  2. Censorship: Since traditional social networks are centralized, a single entity has the power to control what kind of data users can or cannot post on their platform. This might lead to platforms restricting content in accordance with their ideologies and beliefs, resulting in increased censorship.
  3. Lack of anonymity: Most platforms require users to share a lot of personal details, from names to phone numbers and email addresses. While this helps them crack down on fake accounts, it also means that accounts on these platforms can easily be linked to the users’ real identities.

Benefits of Decentralized Social Networks

Since social network platforms running on blockchain tech tend to have significant advantages over traditional networks :

  1. Increased Privacy: Decentralized platforms do not require users to share a lot of personal details, which help protect the users’ privacy. User information is not linked to their actual identities and therefore, makes it very difficult for someone to trace people on decentralized networks.
  2. Redundancy: On a traditional network, the data is owned and managed by a single entity. As a result, if their services go down due to natural or manmade reasons, so does the social media platform. However, due to the nature of blockchain, any network running on a blockchain is fault redundant. If one node is down, the other nodes maintain their copies of the data and the network continues to function as usual.
  3. Censorship Resistance: Users on decentralized social networks have greater freedom over the type of content they can post, since there are little to no restrictions or censorship on these networks. As a result, users can express themselves freely.

Cons of Decentralized Social Networks

While there are some benefits to using a decentralized platform where users can connect with each other, there are some other considerations to be made as well. Social media does have its benefits, but it also has significant demerits, some of which are amplified on a decentralized network.:

  1. Malicious entities: Social media platforms are also used by hackers to participate in illicit activities, and the lack of supervision on a decentralized platform makes it even easier for them to carry out these actions.
  2. Cyberbullying and hate speech: Social media users have had to endure cyberbullying for ages, but with decentralized networks, nefarious users can take it to the next level. Hate speech and cyberbullying is very difficult to deal with on these platforms, due to a lack of supervision and inability to track mischief-makers.
  3. Not user-friendly: One of the major reasons why platforms like Facebook and twitter gained popularity is that they’re very user-friendly and the average user does not have to go through a lot of hoops to use them. However, this is not the case with platforms running on decentralized networks. Users are unlikely to take to platforms that are complex and more difficult to navigate.

Decentralized Platforms

Some of the popular decentralized networks today are:

  • Steemit
  • Mastodon
  • Minds
  • Pixelfed
  • LBRY

Staying Safe On Social Media

Here are some steps you can take to protect yourself on social networks online:

  1. Make sure to use strong passwords for all your accounts. Use a password manager to make it easier to generate and secure your passwords.
  2. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) wherever possible.
  3. Be mindful of downloading files sent by other users on social networks.
  4. Do not post too much personal information about yourself online. While it may seem trendy to post regular updates, it also gives potential attackers a way to track you down and use that information against you.
  5. Do not give away your passwords, card numbers/PINs, OTPs or any such sensitive information to anyone on a social media platform. Attackers often impersonate people and target the victim’s friends and family online to try and get some information from them.

Whether you choose to engage with others on a decentralized platform or a traditional platform is up to you, but you should consider the pros and cons of each before you decide.

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Anshul

Anshul is a cybersecurity analyst at DeTaSECURE. He has helped multiple organizations secure their digital assets as a security professional. He holds certifications like CEH and AZ-900. You can reach out to him by Clicking Here.