In the past period of time, the AI ​​wave represented by ChatGPT has almost taken away everyone's attention, while the crypto world has maintained a certain level of popularity by relying on a few hot topics. After the AI ​​boom, where will the world's attention be focused? In the Web3 world, there is a track that is still widely favored by everyone, and that is SocialFi.

Regarding traditional social media, after acquiring Twitter, this social platform does not seem to be developing in the direction expected by the public, and even shows more "centralization". For example, Musk previously ordered Twitter to modify its algorithm and required that the priority of its tweets be increased 1,000 times, which attracted criticism and controversy.

People seem to be tired of centralized control, because it is not ordinary users who profit from the content on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, but centralized technology companies. In this voice, social networks are increasingly showing a trend of decentralization, which means that users will truly own the content and earn revenue for themselves. Next, we will explore what SocialFi is, how it works, and what are the popular SocialFi applications.

 

What is SocialFi and how it works

SocialFi or Social Finance is a new concept that combines the principles of social networks and decentralized finance (DeFi). Simply put, it is a new stage in the development of social networks. Currently, the data of all users in social networks is controlled by management agencies. In the future SocialFi project, users will be able to control their own data.

The SocialFi platform operates based on the interaction and creation of users, such as allowing content producers to earn income through content and advertising, and users can profit from their communication, news viewing, NFT minting, and participation in games.

 

Why SocialFi is growing in popularity

The main reason for this growth in popularity is that SocialFi can eliminate the shortcomings of Web 2 social networks, such as the following content available for participation:

1. Protect personal data and user privacy. Currently, users on the Internet need to specify their phone number, email and other information to register on any social network. This data is saved on the company's servers. There is a risk of server crashes and user data leaks.

The SocialFi platform, which adopts a decentralized approach, can free users from this problem. After all, the dApp does not collect or store user data, and the ownership of user data belongs to the user.

2. Freedom of speech and equality. People hope that they will not be controlled by centralized authorities or cybersecurity forces, and that they can express their ideas freely and that topics can be equally exposed and receive attention.

3. Digital copyright belongs to the user. The traditional copyright model cannot fully meet the needs of the new reality. For example, even with official permission, authors may lose part of their income when distributing digital content.

The SocialFi platform allows for the creation of an automated copyright system, like a decentralized content marketplace, where authors will have the option to sell their work to buyers without intermediaries.

 

Current SocialFi projects worth noting:

Cheelee — Web3 social video platform

Cheelee is a Web3.0 social video platform that supports users to enjoy a play-and-earn experience. Content producers can get rewards for creating and publishing short videos, and other users can also get paid for watching videos in the feed. Cheelee has previously completed $8 million in equity financing, with participation from US investment fund Veligera Capital, UAE Infinity Technology Fund, and VC SILA. The company also received $1.3 million in VC fund grant support.

On Cheelee, every new user can get NFT glasses for free. These glasses have certain features, such as attention speed, lenses, battery, memory, and frames. These features affect the income that the owner of the NFT glasses earns by watching videos. The glasses can be upgraded and improved with the help of platform tokens, which are farmed for watching content.

Official website: https://cheelee.io/

Twitter: twitter.com/Cheelee_Tweet

Lens — A social protocol for Web 3.0

Lens Protocol is a social protocol for the Web3 world. It unifies your profile, audience, and content on all Lens-enabled applications. The Lens ecosystem already has hundreds of application projects under development or completed. Lens uses NFT as its core element. Users can hold their own Profile NFT (Profile NFT) through their wallets to publish content and realize ownership.

As an open source protocol, Lens has highly combinable modular components that can help developers easily build a variety of social applications on Lens; developers can also develop new components to continuously improve product experience and launch more innovative features. At the end of April, Lens officially renamed the Optimistic L3 expansion solution Bonsai to Momoka, aiming to process transactions on a very large scale and support the next generation of Web3 social users. As an expansion solution, Momoka can process Polygon transactions off-chain, achieve very large-scale expansion and reduce costs. Unlike L2 solutions, Momoka does not compress transactions into L1, but sends and stores them on the data availability layer.

Official website: www.lens.xyz

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LensProtocol

CharityDao——SocialFi charity fundraising service platform

CharityDao is a decentralized charity autonomous organization that aims to make charity simpler, non-political, borderless and efficient. In the first quarter of this year, CharityDao officially launched Let's Help, a SocialFi fundraising service platform for the Web3.0 world, which supports users to use Lets Help to seek help worldwide, initiate fundraising plans on their own, and raise funds through mainstream social media such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Kakao Talk, LINE, etc. Users can initiate various types of fundraising needs, including medical assistance, memorials, emergencies, education, crisis relief, etc.

CharityDao was founded in March 2022. In the early days of the Russian-Ukrainian war, it donated cryptocurrency to the Ukrainian Red Cross. It has now established connections and cooperation with charities in more than 50 countries and regions around the world, including the Ukrainian Red Cross and the Water Fund founded by Matt Damon. CharityDao, which organically combines charity + social + finance, has carried out charity assistance activities in more than ten countries and regions including South Africa, Zambia, Nigeria, India, Turkey, and the Philippines. It has more than 100,000 volunteers online and has received high praise.

Official website: https://charitydao.co/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theCharity_DAO

Arpeggi — Open Source, Collaborative Web3 Music Creation Platform

Arpeggi, led by a16z, is a transparent, open-source, and collaborative Web3 music creation platform based on the ARP (Audio Relationship Protocol) protocol, which allows musicians to share their music and ensure that their audio is owned when used. In the traditional music industry, the legal use of other people's audio requires payment and legal permission, but in Arpeggi, with the CC0 protocol, you can use any sound you hear to create.

Arpeggi provides a fully functional digital music creation platform. Every sound or track created or uploaded to the platform generates an NFT. When other users use the sound, make a remix or listen to the music, the creator receives royalties in the form of platform tokens, thereby generating direct revenue.

Official website: arpeggi.io

Twitter: twitter.com/arpeggi_labs

Traditional social networks have risen rapidly in a very short period of time. For example, Instagram was created in 2010 and reached 16 million daily users within two years. According to BDC Consulting data, by mid-2022, the total number of registered users of the SocialFi project will reach 14 million. Currently, SocialFi has begun to take shape and is destined to be a rising new sector that cannot be ignored.

 

Analysts believe that considering the unique explosive power of the social media ecosystem, SocialFi's disruptive changes may occur at any time and become popular in the future. Applications with originality, high-quality content, the ability to give back to users and a strong community will become the most promising sector of SocialFi.