Beyond entertainment, the social media landscape has become a commercial playground for many people, but particularly content creators who can monetize their content across a range of platforms, such as YouTube and TikTok.
Apart from monetization, some creators earn money through third-party affiliate marketing, dropshipping, brand promotion, and a variety of other methods. The truth is that opportunities for content creators in the social media sphere are practically endless.
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However, one downside to the existing content commercialization model employed by most social media platforms is that it is completely centralized and in some instances, creators’ payments are overburdened with excessive commission and processing fees, either from the main platform, or from intermediaries such as banks, and other payment networks.
One rising star that has had its nose to the grindstone to solve the issue of centralization in the social media space is the recently-launched Only1, a blockchain project that has dubbed itself as the “first social NFT platform.”
Notably, Only1, which is considered to be a part of the second generation of blockchain-based social media platforms, provides a more scalable decentralized alternative for creators and consumers within the space. You can read further about this in our previous publication.
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In an exclusive interview, Leon Lee, founder and CEO of the Only1 NFT social platform, discussed how the newly formed company is bridging the gap between social media stakeholders and decentralized finance (DeFi).
According to Lee, one way to solve the issue of centralization in the social media space is to create solutions that tackle the issues that are inherent within the centralized system itself. For instance, the monetization tracking of user data by big social media corporations, the unfair distribution of content, and the unpredictable reward systems among several other concerns.
Lee also claims that the Web 3.0 internet service, which is based on blockchain technology and capable of hosting decentralized applications like Only1, has the necessary underlying technology to address the majority of the aforementioned difficulties.
“I think with traditional social media, it’s no longer a secret that most people feel that their user data is being monetized and they’re not comfortable with it, they’re not sure what’s being tracked and the fact that Facebook probably knows more about me than they actually do about themselves, is kinda scary, right? And that’s something that I think is poised as a big demand from the market. So the market is looking for a solution. And the reason why I think Web 3 is the solution to this problem is that you know, the entire central focal point of that issue I just described is centralization and control of personal data,“
Lee explained.
While Lee admits that theirs is not the first blockchain-based social media platform, he claims that they are the first of their kind, especially as they leverage NFT to provide a truly decentralized and scalable solution for social media creators and consumers.
Part of the first step to bridge the gap between social media and decentralized finance, according to Lee, is to rectify the major problem that plagued the first generation of Web 3.0 social media platforms, which mostly has to do with tokenomic hyperinflation. This, as Lee puts it, refers to a situation whereby
“You keep rewarding content creators to a point where the token doesn’t have much use case.” To provide a solution to this, Lee explained that Only1 will make provisions for custom creator tokens, which implies that every content creator has their own pull of fungible tokens which users can then trade to get access to them. Doing this, according to Lee, “decouples the inflation problem that is associated with the old system.”
Only1 to Help Creators Solve Monetization Problem
According to Lee, Only1 is still at a very pivotal stage, which suggests that there is a great deal of development still ongoing. He believes that the social media industry is not entirely ready yet for the widespread adoption of decentralized applications.
As a result, the Only1 project will kick off operations by focusing only on the decentralized creators’ economy. More specifically, Only1 will help creators to monetize their existing social media activity, acting as an application programming interface (API).
To achieve this, creators will be required to apply for now, although this is expected to change in the future when the service is made public. Once an applicant is approved on the platform, the user automatically gets a staking pool where fans can stake $LIKE, the network’s native token.
According to Lee, Only1 follows standard DeFi practices, which implies that the staked token will yield returns over a period of time, which is then shared among the creators and consumers based on preset annual percentage yield (APY). This APY, according to Lee, correlates with how active a creator is on the social network.
“The APY, if it stays high, will attract your fanbase or even other people to stake tokens into your pool and by staking tokens in the pools they would earn the APY, which follows standard DeFi practice. On the other hand, you as a creator would actually earn from that pool’s total value as well. If the total value locked is, let’s just say 1 million dollars, you would be earning 1% per month of that pool.”
Lee elaborated.
Lee noted that creators can profit from the pool via a feature he calls ‘Genesis NFT,’ and fans can benefit from the service through a process termed “connect.”
Following an applicant’s approval, the platform gives each creator a one-of-a-kind Genesis NFT. Leon said that by holding one of these, a developer can earn a portion of the entire value locked from the pool of stakes available.
Fans who invest in a creator’s pool, on the other hand, are rewarded with a variety of benefits. These benefits are determined by the artists themselves and might include things such as a video feature, mentorship, or hang out sessions.
Ultimately, Only1 wants to pivot into a creator economy solution, getting rid of intermediaries, and allowing creators to easily monetize their content.
On The Flipside
- Regarding the Genesis NFT feature, Only1 is yet to roll out an initial NFT offering (INO), which may slow down the pace of adoption by creators.
- Only1 is still in a beta state, and may face some challenges, resulting in constant modification.
Why You Should Care?
By substituting centralized finance with decentralized finance, Only1 will help social media creators, and by extension consumers, to maximize their earning potential, putting them in full control of not only their data, but also their finances.
Watch the full interview here:
