Note: everything written here is my opinion alone, not that of the deWeb Team or anyone else.
BBS is not the only social network that uses blockchain technology. There are many more. For the purpose of this post, I will compare two fairly successful projects to BBS: Minds and Steem. These networks’ UIs follow slightly different models (e.g. Minds is more of a Twitter model), but are still interesting to look at.
We will be using three criteria to asses these projects: Extent of decentralisation; Ability for users to earn, and the User-friendliness for a Web2-er.
Minds
The Minds whitepaper states that it is an "open source and decentralized social networking platform where users are rewarded with Minds tokens for contributions to the community". In May 2020, Minds had 2.5 million users. ¹
Criterion #1: Extent of Decentralisation
Whilst the Minds whitepaper claims it is a decentralised Network, I am not sure this is the case. A decentralised network is one that, by nature, no party can control. However, the majority of Minds' data is stored on traditional private web servers. This makes it no different from Web2 products like twitter. The only public database that Minds utilises is the Arweave blockchain. Users have the option to store content there permanently, and publicly. ²
Basically, the Minds architecture does not allow for demonopolisation. For that you need all data to be public. Most of Minds' data is stored privately. As such, the Minds company have control over the Network. It is not decentralised. I would give it a 2/10 as a decentralisation score.
Criterion #2: Ability of Users to Earn
The main blockchain-based part of the Minds Network is its token. $MINDS is an ERC-20 token. Users can earn it from posting on Minds. Ad revenue, as well as other revenue streams, are distributed to Minds users, in the form of the $MINDS token.
However, there is a huge catch to this: ironically, you need to pay for a membership in order to earn. This membership option is not available on the iOS app. Elsewhere, it costs around $5 per month. ³
Criterion #3: User-friendliness for a Web2-er
Minds is totally user-friendly for the average Web2 user. You don't need to connect any wallet.
Steem
Steem's whitepaper describes Steem as a “ a blockchain database that supports community building and social interaction with cryptocurrency rewards”. Let's analyse the system with our criteria.
Criterion #1: Extent of Decentralisation
All posts on Steem are stored on a public blockchain.⁴ In this regard, it is a fairly decentralised system. As everything is public, it allows for a demonopolised infrastructure where anyone could develop their own Steem app.
Having said that, it is important to note that Steem runs on its own blockchain. It does not run on a broader network like Etherem or EOS. As such, its consensus mechanism is not as decentralised like that of other blockchains. In fact, the whitepaper states that “the consensus algorithm adopted by Steem is similar to the consensus algorithm adopted by companies throughout the world”⁵. There is some kind of voting process. This means that censorship is far more likely than on blockchains with Proof of Work, or variations of Proof of Stake (e.g. DPOS).
So, we can conclude that Steem does indeed utilise a public database. However, this public database is not very decentralised. It is democratic. That is still a huge improvement from Web2, don't get me wrong.
It is far easier to censor data on the Steem blockchain than on the Bitcoin, Ethereum or EOS blockchains.
Steem is partially decentralised. I would give it a 5/10 decentralisation score.
Criterion #2: Ability of Users to Earn
Indeed, you can relatively easily earn Steem tokens from posting.
Criterion #3: User-friendliness for a Web2-er
Steem is fairly user friendly for the Web2 user. Having said that, the interface is generally quite poor. I had to receive a text to my phone number in order to verify my account. The text did not arrive, and I still have not managed to open an account there.
BBS
The BBS white paper⁶ states that the BBS Network is a public network of interconnected message boards. Each and every post is stored within a public database.
Criterion #1: Extent of Decentralisation
BBS is decentralised. All the data is stored on a public database. Specifically, the EOS blockchain. EOS uses the the Delegated Proof of Stake consensus algorithm. This renders the most decentralsation in comparison to the systems mentioned above. As such, it is very unlikely that BBS data will be removed from the EOS blockchain. Therefore, anyone can develop a BBS UI, rendering demonopolisaiton.
An important catch is that images are not stored on a decentralised public database, but on Google's central servers.
Moreover, BBS UIs are centralised, like any other website. This is described in detail here.
Overall, BBS is by far the most decentralised system. I would give it 8/10.
Criterion #2: Ability of Users to Earn
The current BBS UI makes it difficult for every user to earn from the Get-Go. However, on BBS.market, any board that meets the Engagement Mining Parameters can earn BBS Tokens. Users of these boards can earn tokens.
Criterion #3: User-friendliness for a Web2-er
The BBS platform is totally compatible with the Web2 experience. Many BBS users do not even know that they are interacting with a blockchain.
One can also withdraw their BBS Tokens to their own private wallets.
Conclusion
BBS and Steem are the most decentralised systems. I am not sure where it is easier to earn.
In my humble opinion, Minds sells itself as decentralised, when in fact it is not very different from Twitter. All they really did was make a token and put a few posts on their blockchain.
Despite this, Minds has over a million members. This makes one very bullish on BBS. The BBS team are immensely experienced, and the technology enables total demonopilsiation.
BBS can lead the way for the demonopilisation of social media.
Let me know what you think,
Yoav
References
2. https://www.bestbitcoinexchange.io/news/posts-on-mind-can-now-be-stored-forever-on-the-arweave-blockchain/
5. Ibid. p14
6. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I2xYp0EKvVvNqtzngFy1k-l_B05g7wLJS5VSGL2dDcU/edit#