As the social media revolution has impacted every aspect of our lives, almost half of the US internet users get their news from social platforms like Facebook and Twitter. We no more hold newspapers in our hands on our way to work. We just tap on the screens and the events of the entire world are accessible to us. Blockchain can truly empower you if coupled with Social Media and News.

While this has led to a social media boom with these sites being a part of our internet routine, what they have also done is created a window for fake news and false information. The power of social media is monumental which is exactly why it is harnessed to generate propaganda, political agendas and fake news. The election time is the period for circulation of maximum fake and unverified information and what’s more, users actually found these links shared on their feeds with no approval from their side.

This is where blockchain comes into play. IT experts decided to utilize blockchain to help sites get verified before their news is accepted by the users to increase credibility of the news. This can be done using different tactics and applications. Being social has actually devised a strategy where they reward real news with a digital token which might resemble, let us say a bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency which is reviewed by the users themselves. This currency can be converted into real currency. This means that users can now filter news and select the authentic sites and earn money in the bargain.

This helps in monetization and ownership of data which gives users more power than they ever had before. So you now have the power to earn through your feeds. This is possible only because of blockchain and its watertight systems.

While social media was centered on providing the user’s space for sharing and communication as well as self-expression, it seems that the entire deal has been withdrawn and what we now see is privacy breaches, unwarranted censorship and the unauthorized sale of our personal data to advertising companies. All this is eradicated by blockchain. The technology ensures that censorship proof, personalized social media sites are generated where users can democratically choose to share and express whatever they love and want to express, with no fear of authority standing to review what they post. From freedom of content sharing to earning money through curation and rejection of content for news, the future of social media is getting brighter each day as blockchain starts to get incorporated into the platforms. Moreover, there’s security too. So you can now share authentic and verified content as per your discretion.

Moreover, the ability to generate revenue via crowdfunding and ICOs has also been explored in the past. This will help create an alternative pathway for generating funds and also enhance the innovation and help fight against the broken systems too.

Does this mean that the identity of facebook, twitter, and Google as storehouses of online news will be obsolete just like the newspapers? Not really. What blockchain is aiming at is to revolutionize the existing system to incorporate more security, filtered data and high-quality content on social media apart from a more personalized, expressive, secure, and democratic. One could see so many different avenues for finding content, and the eradication of centralized news gatekeepers is surely an icing on the cake.

You can now be in charge of the data you want on your profiles. Moreover, you can earn through it, and there will be no bogus sites on board to spread false information and propaganda. It seems like a win-win situation for all.