There is nothing new under the sun. This statement seems incorrect but if you look at it from a certain perspective, it makes a lot of sense. We have made great strides over the years in various fields. Innovation in transport, communication, medicine and technology has made the world what it is currently. However, the basics are still the same. No matter how many inventions we come up with in transport, our aim will always be to move from point A to point B. The same is with communication. From smoke signals, to mails, telegraphs, telephones and now instant messaging, our primary goal has always been passing information hence the statement ‘nothing new under the sun’. One thing that is however clear is that we can do the same thing differently to achieve the same results but with more efficiency.
There is a stubbornness and persistence that we usually have as humans that prevents us from accepting changes in our lives. We want to do things as they were done before even after improvements have been made. As long as it challenges or attempts to change our everyday life, we become resistant. This has been the case with advertising companies and their resistance to adopt new approaches. Back when mails were the better form of communication, advertisers would blindly send mails about products and services which would mostly end up as trash. E-mails then followed and advertising companies continued spamming without any knowledge of their target audience. Most of these would end up unread because, who reads their spam? Even with the advent of instant messaging, advertising was not as effective because very vital data was missing. Then came social media.
Social media provided the platform where advertisers could easily share their products and services. by paying a small fee, a vast audience could be reached within hours. This attracted more clients for them as the numbers were staggering. Sale in advertised products did go up but not as expected. So much was being spent on advertising yet companies were brining in so little. Social media companies then started monitoring the activities of their users. This allowed them to collect data on individual users on top of what they had submitted. Social media companies now knew the likes and dislikes of their users. This information was what advertising companies needed to reach their target audience. Advertising companies started bidding wars for user data which propelled the value of social media companies greatly.
Advertising started becoming more specific, reaching its intended audience. They even became convenient as users within social media platforms would get ads for products they had been searching for. Companies started reaping huge returns from this. Since it was working, they thought it best to intensify their advertising. At this point, advertisements started going back to their spamming ways and they even became creepy. One minute your searching ‘how to ride a bike’ the next minute pop up ads on bike and bike accessory sales crowd your browser. Internet users started getting concerned and their concerns were valid. All the data being collected about their internet usage was directly infringing their privacy. All this data was also being stored centrally which meant that one attack could expose all that data to anyone who wants it. The iCloud attach was the perfect example of the problem that central data storage caused.
Problems such as this require fast solutions because they are ticking time bombs of great catastrophe when they finally blow up. The invention of Blockchain technology back in 2008 and its achievements so far opened up an opportunity for developers to address these emerging online issues. Sphere, a social media app was developed. You would think that we have too many of those but Sphere is a much-needed breather offering a fresh new approach to our social media experience.
Sphere is based on the blockchain platform meaning that all its data is kept private, secure, transparent and safe. Data manipulation within this platform is close to impossible. The creators of sphere want to shake things up in the current social media and online advertising scene. The revolution they have planned will bring power back to the user and some monetary advantages as well.
The Sphere platform will be as social as the current social media applications. The changes they are bringing will be on user privacy and cost of advertising. The personalization of advertising proved to work out well but its execution brought its downfall. Sphere wants to take a similar approach while tweaking a few key areas. The first major area is the privacy of their users. Data in the sphere platform will only be collected by the consent of the owner of that data. Sphere wants to bring back trust in social media and this would be the best way to do it. Users will also have the option of selling their data which will then be sold to advertisers. Right now, the advertising business is a booming billion-dollar economy. Through this initiative, Sphere users will have the opportunity to have a slice of this huge cake.
For businesses, Sphere aims to reduce their advertisement costs. Ads within the platform will be paid for but at cheaper rates compared to the current market rate. Advertisers will also have access to a tailor-made audience upon their request. This will save on cost and make their ads more effective as users will only get the ads that they want to see and at a frequency of their choosing.
Transactions within the Sphere platform will be done through Social Activity Tokens (SAT). This will create a large demand for the tokens as the number of users within the platform grows. Value of the SAT is set to grow with increasing demand and increasing active Sphere users. Part of the Sphere growth plan to increase demand for SAT is conducting a bounty program. This will encourage members of the public to promote Sphere within their social spaces as their will be incentives involved. Rewards will be given based on the extent of sharing done and number of users brought into Sphere.
For Sphere to achieve this, it requires funds. All these operations will require monetary input for them to be implemented. Sphere is currently having a public ICO on SAT which will run till 2100hrs(UTC) on 9th April, 2018. This sale is to promote participation of those willing to take part in this social media revolution. The total token supply is one billion. 65% (650 million) will be sold to the public while the rest will be reserved for the developing team and other stakeholders. Purchasing of the tokens will be done only through an accepted group of cryptocurrencies which are Bitcoin, Fiat, Ethereum, Dodgecoin and Litecoin. Whatever number of SAT remains after the ICO will be destroyed and no further SAT will be developed.
For more information on Sphere and its social media revolution plan visit the following links to their website and white paper.
Website: https://sphere.social/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/SphereSocial/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SphereOfficial1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SphereSocialNetwork
Medium: https://medium.com/@sphereofficial
