Allowing the distribution of governance, participatory collaboration or the organized financing of various projects, social tokens offer content creators, artists and entrepreneurs an innovative alternative to traditional mediation channels. Let’s explore the potential of social tokens, both for their creators and their holders.

  1. The social token, a boon for creators and entrepreneurs
  2. A bit of context to explain the appearance of social tokens
  3. What is a social token?
  4. The different types of social tokens
  5. The many uses of social tokens
  6. Our opinion on social tokens

The social token, a boon for creators and entrepreneurs

The development of Web 3.0 is advancing rapidly and sweeping in its wake the traditional patterns of data ownership on the Internet.

Among the innovations resulting from the base offered by blockchain technology, social tokens seem to have been gaining interest since 2020.

Offering content creators, artists and entrepreneurs an unprecedented method of financing themselves and interacting with their community, these tokens pave the way towards a disintermediated and participative economy .

Today, Cryptoast invites you to explore the subject in order to understand what social tokens are and what their potential applications are within the Internet of tomorrow.

A bit of context to explain the appearance of social tokens

To understand the crypto community’s growing enthusiasm for social tokens, you have to put the events in context.

Following the various restrictions attempting to stem the spread of SARS-COV-2, many artists have experienced great difficulty in promoting their works and generating a decent income.

At the same time, audio and video content platforms , from YouTube to Spotify to Netflix, have benefited from increased traffic and form fierce competition for content creators via their own original works.

” Historically, artists have been deprived of the value they generate by a slew of intermediaries such as corporations and platforms monopolizing their creative property as well as their income,” André Anjos.

Since 2020, the need for artists to find new methods of financing has therefore catalyzed this attention towards social tokens, presenting functionalities that were previously difficult to deploy.

For these reasons, many creators have been charmed by the idea of ​​building their own medium , enabling direct relationships with consumers, interacting with fans on their own terms, in a disintermediated and self- determined way .

By dispensing with centralized platforms, artists can reclaim the means of production , distribution and marketing of their works while emancipating themselves from censorship.

It is in this context that social tokens attempt to offer creators of all kinds a transparent and participatory alternative to traditional media platforms.

What is a social token?

In itself, a social token is a classic token: fungible, exchangeable, most often operating on the Ethereum blockchain or on platforms such as Rally, BitClout or Roll.

Issued by an individual, a group or a company, social tokens are therefore ordinary cryptocurrencies in terms of design, although their use is very specific: they represent a means of encouraging anyone to take part in a common or individual project by exchange of a token.

Among the best-known social tokens are:

  • Alex Masmej’s ALEX token ;
  • the Steem Power (SP) token of the social network Steemit;
  • the Bankless token (BANK) of the Bankless media;
  • the Forefront (FF) token of the Forefront aggregator;
  • the Adventure Gold token (AGLD) of the NFT Loot project (for Adventurers).

These tokens can be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies or give particular advantages within the community with which the token is associated.

“ A social token represents a fractional share of the intrinsic value of a community, brand or individual. It is a form of ownership economics that gives participants exposure to the growth trajectory of the community around which they coalesce, as well as the opportunity to help shape that trajectory,” The Defiant.

Thus, the objective of a social token is to encourage collaboration by facilitating cohesion between individuals who do not know each other and who do not have a sure way of trusting each other.

This type of token has the potential to redefine the way entities interact on the Internet, be they companies, individuals or communities.

The different types of social tokens

Social tokens can be distinguished into various categories depending on the entity issuing them.

There are thus four major “families” of social tokens with distinct objectives and characteristics.

Community tokens

Generally used within collectives that are not centered around an individual or a creator, community tokens, or “ community tokens” , allow a group of collaborators to organize themselves around common objectives.

They are often very useful within Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) , both to value an entity’s contribution to the community and to serve as a governance token .

Groups that can use these tokens include informal clubs, social networks, collectives or cooperatives.

The Steem Power (SP) token from the Steemit platform is an excellent example of a community token, rewarding creators based on the quality and reputation of their content.

The creator tokens

Creator tokens are similar to fan club coupons, where creators can leverage them to reward fans with different types of benefits or access levels within a platform.

So to speak, creator tokens serve as an incentive and organizational tool to mobilize a community around a collective mission, often aimed at promoting the artist and his values.

We can cite here the rapper Ja Rule, who, from 2020, was already collaborating with the Roll platform in order to create what he called at the time a “ social currency ”.

Personal tokens

Personal tokens are issued by an individual, abstractly symbolizing their reputation, time or skills.

Alex Masmej, mentioned above, was one of the first pioneers to create a personal token by introducing a revenue sharing agreement with investors agreeing to fund it.

Additionally, designer Matthew Vernon has created a token named “BOI”, in which a token is meant to represent one hour of time when traded.

More recently, we can also mention the ELIOT token, issued by Eliott Couvat, author of the book “ The social token revolution ” and responsible for community and growth at CoinviseCo.

Brand tokens

Brand tokens, or “ brand tokens ”, differ from the previous ones in that they can be used by an organization or a company in a manner similar to a loyalty points system. Here, it’s not about shared values, work done or creators to support.

And while few companies or brands are using this type of monetization at the time of this writing, it’s more than likely that big names already involved in the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and metaverse space will prepare to use it.

We can easily think of companies like Carrefour, Casino, social networks like Facebook, TikTok or platforms like YouTube or Netflix.

The many uses of social tokens

Originally, social tokens serve real utility rather than financial speculation . They are designed to be leveraged in a variety of ways, encouraging or rewarding activities that contribute to the growth of a community rather than generating added value.

Each community can thus develop its own economy by first defining the way in which tokens will be recovered and then used by contributors, users or the public. These terms differ by community and social tokens can serve multiple purposes .

Let’s take an overview of the main applications of these tokens within different types of communities.

Engage and manage a community

Social tokens can be deployed to encourage engagement within a network . By rewarding work, promotion, interaction, or any other behavior or task that contributes to creating collective value, they create an economic incentive for productivity .

In this way, social tokens can be used as a tool or asset around which a community can collectively rally and work together on a mission that brings them all together.

In addition, managing, developing and federating online communities can be a real headache. A constant collective effort is sometimes necessary to maintain group cohesion and reach a consensus.

Social tokens address this issue by creating simple ways to reward running a community , like moderating a Discord, hosting business meetings, or other communication and coordination tasks.

Self-governance of a community

Moreover, social tokens can be formidable governance tools for a community. They allow token holders to participate in governance decisions by voting using those same tokens on a platform like Snapshot.

Thus, they distribute decision-making and offer communities a form of governance that can approach a form of democracy.

Create social and economic value

Social tokens can also be seen as a way to represent “ social signage ” within a community.

Individuals contributing the most to the common goal will earn more tokens, and those who decide to hold their tokens instead of selling them align with the interests and long-term vision of a community.

This form of remuneration is close to a form of service economy in which entities are rewarded for the task and merit.

Additionally, these tokens can be traded on a marketplace and take advantage of some of the tools of decentralized finance (DeFi). Thus, they have a real ability to signify financial value , which a community can build and share together.

Offer cardholder benefits and features

Additionally, these tokens can be used as a form of currency within a community, which can be used to enable unique access to experiences and privileges. These benefits may include:

  • restricted access to platform tokens;
  • early access to exclusive artistic content;
  • controlled access to a physical space during an event;
  • access to a designer’s time and skills;
  • discounts in an online store.

Our opinion on social tokens

Finally, social tokens offer content creators, artists and entrepreneurs an innovative alternative to traditional mediation channels .

Allowing the distribution of governance, participatory collaboration or the organized financing of various projects, these tokens add to the field of possibilities countless eventualities of community and individual creations.

Occupying a more than coherent place within Web 3.0, social tokens represent powerful disintermediation tools allowing communities and individuals to reclaim the means of production and distribution of their labor.

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