Blockchain Technologies and Social Media: A Snapshot

Abstract

Facebook has proposed to integrate the cryptocurrency 'Libra' into its services, a plan which has been heavily discussed in science, businessand politics. On Steemit.com one receives a tradable-token namend Steem in return for writing popular articles or post comments while at Wildspark.me one is rewarded for discovering the next big YouTube video. This shows that Blockchain technologies have an undeniable influence on the development of today's Social Media Networks. On the one hand, we have the technology hype around Blockchain and what kind of new applications are made possible, and on the other hand, the speculation hype around digital tokens (cryptocurrencies) and new forms of investment (ICO, STO), which have in turn resulted in a large number of start-ups in the Social Media and Blockchain sector. Start-ups and products, which quite often disappear from the market in a relatively short time. This paper provides a Snapshot, how Blockchain technologies could influence established Social Networks and gives an overview of known start-ups and their platforms which facilitate Blockchain technologies (like Steemit, Social X, Obsidian, Indorse, Sola,HyperSpace, Ardor.rocks a.s.o.). Finally, a discussion on how Blockchain technologies can be used beyond speculation is provided.

Full text

Proceedings of the
7th European Conference on Social Media
ECSM 2020
Hosted By
University of Central Lancashire - Cyprus
(UCLan Cyprus)
2-3 July 2020
Edited by
Dr Christos Karpasitis

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i
Contents
Paper Title Author(s) Page
no
Preface iv
Committee v
Biographies vii
Research papers
Social Media Participation: Empirical Study Among Adults in
Klang Valley (Malaysia)
Azian Muhamad Adzmi and
Norliza Saiful Bahry
1
Impact of Social Media Usage on Adolescent Sexual and
Reproductive Health
Daniel Edem Adzovie and Rita
Holm Adzovie
10
E-Learning Resulting From Covid-19 Pandemic: A Conceptual
Study From a Developing Country Perspective
Daniel Edem Adzovie, Abdul
Bashiru Jibril, Rita Holm Adzovie
and Isaac Eliot Nyieku
19
Exploring the Importance of Facebook Post Writing as a
Museum Engagement Tool
Deborah Agostino, Michela
Arnaboldi, Melisa Lucia Diaz
Lema and Paola Riva
28
Social Media and its Impact on the Financial Performance on
SMEs in Developing Countries: A Literature Review
John Amoah 37
The Demographic Situation in the Mirror of Social Media:
Mixed-Methods Analysis
Anna Bagirova, Anzhelika
Voroshilova and Elmira
Yuzhakova
43
It’s not Just What you Tweet, it’s how you Tweet It Eliza Barach, Vidhushini
Srinivasan, Rachel Fernandes,
Laurie Beth Feldman and Samira
Shaikh
52
Social Media: A Social Engineer’s Goldmine Henry Collier 60
The use of Social Media for Stress Self-Management Victoria Dudina and Anastasija
Ruppel
68
The Stresscapes Ontology System: Detecting and Measuring
Stress on Social Media
Suzanne Elayan, Martin Sykora,
Ketan Shankardass, Colin
Robertson, Rob Feick, Krystelle
Shaughnessy, Lawrence Haydn
and Tom Jackson
74
Impact of Social Media on University Students’ Development
of Critical Thinking Skills
Mohamed Elgeddawy and Talal
Al-Ameen
83
The Impacts of Social Media on University Students in Turkey Abdulnaser Fashakh, Abbas
Fadhil Aljuboori and Oguz Bayat
90
Knowledge Practice in Social Media Environments: Where
Formal and Informal Learning Meet
Beata Godejord 97
Peer Support Among Doctoral Students: #docconnect Sue Greener 105
Misinformation in the 2019 Samoan Measles Epidemic: The
Role of the Influencer
Val Hooper 112
Building Brand Identity on Instagram Vladimíra Jurišová 119

ii
Paper Title Author(s) Page
no
Generation Z: Social Media as a Tool for Education Lucia Kohnová and Ján Papula 127
Use of Social Media for Marketing Communication of Socially
Responsible Business Activities in Slovakia
Peter Krajčovič and Ľudmila
Čábyová
135
Possibilities of Display and Collection of Marketing Data From
the Social Media
Michal Kubovics and Anna
Zaušková
144
Emotions Aroused by the Most Popular Content on Facebook
and Their Virality on the Example of Selected Industries
Iwona Lupa-Wójcik 154
Age 2.0: Motivations and Brand Engagement Sandra Miranda, Ana Teresa
Machado, Ana Cristina Antunes
and Ana Gama
163
An Exploration of Citizen Engagement Through Social
Networking Sites in Botswana: Information Governance
Issues
Tshepho Mosweu 170
The Impact of Social Media on Mobile Money Adoption:
South African Evidence
Shallone Munongo, Daniel
Makina and Kunofiwa Tsaurai
180
Uses and Gratifications of Generation Z Within Social
Networks: A Dialectical Investigation Into the Facebook
Domain
Ryan O’Carroll and Tara Rooney 187
Blockchain Technologies and Social Media: A Snapshot Alexander Pfeiffer, Simone
Kriglstein, Thomas Wernbacher
and Stephen Bezzina
196
Generation Y Communication Preferences of Environmental
Topics on Social Networks
Igor Piatrov 206
Private Citizen Perceptions of Fake News, Echo Chambers and
Populism
Brian Pickering, Steve Taylor and
Michael Boniface
212
The Influence of Social Media Marketing on Consumer
Purchase Intention of Fresh Produce in Egypt
Ismail Ragab and Mohamed AF
Ragab
222
Use of Social Media in the Presentation of Eco-Innovations of
Slovak Businesses
Monika Rezníčková and Anna
Zaušková
232
Not a Problem for me: Young Men’s Conceptions of Their
Social Media use and False Information
Reetta Riikonen, Aki-Mauri
Huhtinen and Teija Norri-
Sederholm
240
Barriers to the use of Social Media in Burkina Faso SMEs Andrée Roy and Claude Dionne 246
The First Feedback in Social Media to the new Russian
Pronatalist Policy
Daria Saitova 255
Toolkit of Social Media in a Smart City Development Konstantin Semyachkov 263
Impact of Social Media Marketing on Customer Relationships
and Subsequent Purchase: A Case Study of High Fashion
Retail
Poornima Sikrant 271
Perception of Privacy in the Internet and Private Information
Management: Results of a Study Conducted Among Junior
High School Students
Klaudia Sroka and Malwina
Popiołek
280

iii
Paper Title
Author(s)
Page
no
Tweeting Brexit: A Computational Analysis of Public Mood
During the Brexit Negotiations
Martin Sykora, Suzanne Elayan,
Niall Perri and Tom Jackson
288
A Survey of the Ethics of Social Media Analytics
Martin Sykora, Suzanne Elayan,
Nicole Barbour and Tom Jackson
298
Borrowed Interest and Social Media Language Usage in
Advertising
Alina Tenescu
306
Increasing Millennials' Awareness of Environmental Problems
on Social Networking Sites
Martin Vanko and Anna Zaušková
314
Law Enforcement Access to End-to-End Encrypted Social
Media Communications
Murdoch Watney
322
Use of Social Media by Older Adults
Jędrzej Wieczorkowski, Katarzyna
Fundowicz and Malwina Popiołek
330
Social Media Communication of Small Local Brands as the
Future of Circular Economy
Mgr. Martin Klementis
339
Phd Research Papers
349
Device and Social Media Usage in a Lecture Theatre in a Saudi
Arabian University: Students’ Views
Moudi Alsharif and Maria
Limniou
351
YouTube Viewer’s Comments on the Opioid Epidemic
Coverage by CNN and Fox News
Leeza Bacon, Lana Ivanitskaya
and Elina Erzikova
361
Facebook as a Tool of Regional Marketing Communication
Lenka Labudová and Denisa
Jánošová
360
Using Blogs as an Instructional Tool to Enhance the Digital
Skills of 21st Century Learners in University Settings
Ourania Miliou and Charoula
Angeli
376
Participation and the Role of Social Media Affordance in
Open Educational Repositories
Virginia Power
380
Company‘s Customer Behaviour Initiatives on Social Media
Platforms: Consequences
Egle Vaiciukynaite
388
Masters paper
397
Pinterest: A Unicorn Among Social Media? An Investigation of
the Platform's Quality and Specifications
Regina Kasakowskij, Thomas
Kasakowskij and Kaja Fietkiewicz
399

iv
ECSM Preface
These proceedings represent the work of contributors to the 7th European Conference on Social Media (ECSM
2020), supported by UCLan Cyprus, Larnaca on 2-3 July 2020. The Conference Chair is Dr Christos Karpasitis and
the Programme Chair is Mrs Christiana Varda, from the University of Central Lancashire - Cyprus (UCLan Cyprus).
ECSM is a relatively new, but well-established event on the academic research calendar. Now, in its 7th year, the
key aim remains the opportunity for participants to share ideas and meet. The conference was due to be held
at UCLan Cyprus, but unfortunately, due to the global Covid-19 pandemic it was moved online to be held as a
virtual event. The scope of papers will ensure an interesting conference. The subjects covered illustrate the
wide range of topics that fall into this important and ever-growing area of research.
The opening keynote presentation is given by Adam Johnsson, CEO and Founder, Thèque Marketing, Stockholm,
Sweden on the topic of How-to engage and sell through social media. On the second day, Pantelis Vladimirou,
MD, Webarts, Cyprus will give a talk on the subject: How Consumers are becoming influencers of a Brand.
With an initial submission of 97 abstracts, after the double blind, peer review process there are 41 Academic
research papers, 7 PhD research papers and 1 Masters Research paper published in these Conference
Proceedings. These papers represent research from Botswana, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland,
Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia,
Serbia, Slovakia , South Africa, Turkey, UK, USA and Vietnam.
We hope you enjoy the conference.
Dr Christos Karpasitis
University of Central Lancashire - Cyprus (UCLan Cyprus)
Cyprus
July 2020

v
ECSM Conference Committee
Dr Poornima A S Srikant, D G Vaishnav College, India; Dr. Rabeeh Abbasi, Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan; Dr
Małgorzata Adamska, Opole University of Technology, Poland; Dr Lina Marie Agurre-Jaramillo, Universidad de
Antioquia, Colombia; Elham Akbari, Utrecht, Netherlands; Prof Hamid Alasadi, Iraq University college, Istqlal
Street, Basra, 61004, Iraq; Prof. Alexandra Albuquerque, ISCAP-IPP, Portugal; Prof. Abdelnaser Ali, Universiti
Sains Malaysia, Malaysia; Prof Abbas Aljuboori, University of Information Technology and Communications, Iraq;
Ass. Prof. Dr. Rumen Andreev, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; Ass.Prof, Ph.D. Anca-Olga Andronic,
Spiru Haret University, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences Braov, Romania; Ass. Prof, Ph.D. Razvan-
Lucian Andronic, Spiru Haret University, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences Braov, Romania; Dr.
Nekane Aramburu, University of Deusto, Spain; Prof Lina Artemenko, National Technical University of Ukraine
Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnical Institute, Ukraine; Prof Anna Baczkowska, Nicolaus Copernicus University , Torun,
Poland; Prof. Joao Batista, University of Aveiro (ISCA), Portugal; Dr Petra Bayerl, CENTRIC, Sheffield Hallam
University, UK; Prof. Dr. Aurelie Aurilla Bechina, Buskerud College University, Norway; Andrea Benn, University
of Brighton, UK; Dr. Frank Bezzina, University of Malta, Malta; Maumita Bhattacharya, Charles Sturt University,
Australia; Dr. Mads Bo-Kristensen, Education and Learning, Denmark; Prof. Dr. Dietmar Boenke, Reutlingen
University, Germany; Dr. Roberto Boselli, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy; Dr. Sviatoslav Braynov, University
of Illinois at Springfield, USA; Dr. Dragana Calic, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Australia;
Professeur (phD Information Systems) Ana Paula Camarinha Teixeira, IPP - ISCAP Porto, Portugal; Dr. Martin
Cápay, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia; Prof. Maria Ivone Cardoso, ISCAP, Portugal; Dr
Chandresh Chhatlani, JRN Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, India; Dr Ritesh Chugh, Central Queensland University,
Australia; Ilenia Confente, University of Verona, Italy; Prof. Delaine Coochran, Indiana University, USA; Dr Niall
Corcoran, Limerick Inst Technology, Ireland; Dr. Leona Craffert, UWC, South Africa; Dr. Martin De Saulles,
University of Brighton, UK; Evan Dembskey, UNISA, South Africa; Ass. Prof. Muhammet Demirbilek, Suleyman
Demirel University, Turkey; Sarah Diffley, Queen's University Belfast - Queen's University Management School,
UK; Dr. Nomusa Dlodlo, CSIR - Meraka Institute, South Africa; Dr. Martina A. Doolan, Univeristy of Hertfordshire,
UK; Sally Eaves, Aston Business School, UK; Dr Ramadan Elaiess, University of Benghazi, Libya; Dr Suzanne Elayan,
Loughborough University, UK; Dr. Scott Erickson, Ithaca College, USA; Dr. Jose Esteves, IE business school, Spain;
Jorge Ferreira, Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal; Dr. Dianne Forbes, University of Waikato, New Zealand; Prof.
Samuel Fosso Wamba, Toulouse Business School, France; Prof Ergun Gide, CQUniversity, Australia; Matt Glowatz,
University College Dublin, Ireland; Prof. Fátima Gonçalves, CISUC - Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal; Prof.
Dimitris Gouscos, University of Athens, Greece; Dr. Leila Halawi, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, USA; Dr.
Liliana Hawrysz, Warsaw University of Technology, Poland; Dr. Val Hooper, Victoria University of Wellington,
New Zealand; Dr. Md. Fokhray Hossain, Daffodil International University, Bangladesh; Ulrike Hugl, University of
Innsbruck, Austria; Dr Alison Iredale, Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom; Sheila Jagannathan, The World
Bank, USA; Prof. Brigita Janiunaite, Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania; Dr. John Jessel, Goldsmiths,
University of London, UK; Geraldine Jones, University of Bath, UK; Jari Jussila, Hame University of Applied
Sciences, Finland; Dr Yusniza Kamarulzaman, University of Malaya, Malaysia; Lewis Kaplan, Durban University
of Technology, Rep of South Africa; Dr. Ioannis Karavasilis, Ionian Islands Regional Education admimistration,
Greece; Dr Christos Karpasitis, UCLan Cyprus, Pyla, Cyprus; Prof Jesuk Ko, Universidad Mayor de San Andres,
Bolivia; Dr kevin koidl, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; Prof. Mortaza Kokabi, Shaheed Chamran University, Iran;
Dr. Kostas Kolomvatsos, University of Athens, Greece; Dr Barbara Krumay, WU Vienna University of Economics
and Business, Austria; Dr Wioleta Kucharska, Gdańsk University of Technology, Polska; Dr. Swapna Kumar,
University of Florida, USA; Dr Chern Li Liew, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand; Dr. Andriew Lim,
Hotelschool The Hague, Netherlands; Dr Young Joon Lim, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, USA; Prof.
Arminda Lopes, Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco, Portugal; Prof. Eurico Lopes, Instituto Politécnico Castelo
Branco, Portugal; Ana Loureiro, Instituto Politécnico de Santarém - Escola Superior de Educação, Portugal; Dr
Magdalena Maciaszczyk , Lublin University of Technology, Poland; Miss Malissa Maria Mahmud, Sunway
University , Malaysia; Dr. Thelma Manansala, Bataan Peninsula State University, Philippines; Dr. Stefania Manca,
Institute for Educational Technology - CNR, Italy; Dr Bertil P. Marques, GILT/ISEP, Portugal; Prof Rui Pedro
Marques, University of Aveiro, Portugal; Jorge Tiago Martins, Information School, The University of Sheffield, UK;
Prof Maurizio Massaro, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy; Prof. Muresan Mihaela, Dimitrie Cantemir Christian
University, Romania; Dr. Begoña Montero-Fleta, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain; Hafizi Muhamad Ali,
Yanbu University College, Saudi Arabia; Dr. Graham Myers, Durban University of Technology, South Africa;
Nazmun Nahar, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland; Minoru Nakayama, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan;
Vincent Ng, Dept of Computing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China; Emanuela Nica, Center for Ethics
and Health Policy and, Petre Andrei University from Lasi, Romania; Dr. Maria Obeso, University of Cantabria,

vi
Spain; Dr Luciana Oliveira, ISCAP / IPP – School of Accounting and Administration, Portugal; Assist. Prof. Dr. Nuran
Öze, Near East University, Turkey; Dr. Alessandro Pagano, University of Bari, Italy; Prof. Leonor Pais, University
of Coimbra, Portugal; Dr. Stavros Parlalis, Frederick University, Cyprus; Dr. Carmen Perez-Sabater, Universitat
Politecnica de Valencia, Spain; Dr. Beth Perry, Athabasca University, Canada; Dr. Mick Phythian, Centre for
Computing & Social Responsibility (CCSR), De Montfort University, UK; Prof Marina Pichugina, National Technical
University of Ukraine Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Politechnical Institute, Ukraine; Drogkaris Prokopios, University of the
Aegean, Greece; Prof. Saripalli Ramanamurthy, Pragati Engineering College, India; Prof. Thurasamy Ramayah,
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia; Isabel Ramos, University of Minho, Portugal; Pascal Ravesteijn, HU
University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands; Dr. Martin Rich, Cass Business School, UK; Dr. Andree Roy,
Universit de Moncton, Canada; Dr. char sample, Carnegie Mellon University/CERT, USA; Dr. Jose Santos, Ulster
University, Northern Ireland; Dr. Simone Domenico Scagnelli, Edith Cowan University, Australia; Dr. Yilun Shang,
Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore; Dr. Chandranshu Sinha, Amity Business School, Noida,
India; Dr Marjolaine St-Pierre, University of Montreal, Canada; Prof. James Stewart, Coventry University, UK; Dr.
Thomas Strasser, Vienna University of Teacher Education, Austria; Dr. Alan Strickley, Department for Education,
UK; Dr Christine Nya-Ling Tan, Auckland Institute of Studies, New Zealand; Assc Devaraja Thattekere Settygowda,
University of Mysore , India; Dr. Hayfaa Tlaiss, University of New Brunswick, Canada; Dr. Eduardo Tomé,
Universidade Lusiada, Portugal; Florica Tomos, Glamorgan University, UK; Prof. Alexandru Tugui, Alexandru Ioan
Cuza University, Romania; Ann Turner, Queen Margaret University, UK; Christiana Varda, UCLan Cyprus,
Larnaca,, Cyprus; Prof. Vasiliki Vrana, Technological Education Institute of Serres, Greece; Prof. Dr. Robert J.
Wierzbicki, University of Applied Sciences Mittweida, Germany; Dr. Christine Williams, Bentley University, USA;
Prof. Afonso Zinga, University of Coimbra, Portugal.

Blockchain Technologies and Social Media: A Snapshot
Alexander Pfeiffer1 2 3, Simone Kriglstein4 5, Thomas Wernbacher2 and Stephen Bezzina6
1Comparative Media Studies/Writing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
Cambridge, USA
2Center for Applied Game Studies, Donau-Universität Krems (DUK), Krems, Austria
3Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Malta (UoM), Msida, Malta
4Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (AIT), Vienna, Austria
5Faculty of Computer Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
6Ministry for Education and Employment, Floriana, Malta
alex_pf@mit.edu
simone.kriglstein@ait.ac.at
Thomas.wernbacher@donau-uni.ac.at
mail@stephenbezzina.com
DOI: 10.34190/ESM.20.073
Abstract: Facebook has proposed to integrate the cryptocurrency 'Libra' into its services, a plan which has been heavily
discussed in science, business and politics. On Steemit.com one receives a tradable-token namend Steem in return for writing
popular articles or post comments while at Wildspark.me one is rewarded for discovering the next big YouTube video. This
shows that Blockchain technologies have an undeniable influence on the development of today's Social Media Networks. On
the one hand, we have the technology hype around Blockchain and what kind of new applications are made possible, and
on the other hand, the speculation hype around digital tokens (cryptocurrencies) and new forms of investment (ICO, STO),
which have in turn resulted in a large number of start-ups in the Social Media and Blockchain sector. Start-ups and products,
which quite often disappear from the market in a relatively short time. This paper provides a Snapshot, how Blockchain
technologies could influence established Social Networks and gives an overview of known start-ups and their platforms which
facilitate Blockchain technologies (like Steemit, Social X, Obsidian, Indorse, Sola, HyperSpace, Ardor.rocks a.s.o.). Finally, a
discussion on how Blockchain technologies can be used beyond speculation is provided.
Keywords: Blockchain, DLT, social media, utility tokens, cryptocurrencies, rewards
1. Introduction
In Blockchain jargon, a snapshot is a verified copy of a Blockchain database at a certain point in time (to assist in
synchronizing new nodes1, or to initiate a fork2), a specific timestamp3 (to allow an airdrop4), or the ability to
historically record the price development of traded tokens and cryptocurrencies. For the purpose of this paper,
a snapshot is intended to be the capturing of the current status on the use of Blockchain technologies in Social
Media; four years after Ned Scott and Dan Larimer founded Steemit Inc (www.steemit.com). Stemmit is
currently the most popular social network based on token economics and a certain degree of decentralization5.
In 2010 Kwon and Wen describe a Social Network Service (SNS6) as an individual webpage which enables online,
human-relationship building by collection useful information and sharing it with specific or unspecific people,
referring to platforms like Facebook (www.facebook.com), Hi5 (www.hi5.com), Cyworld
(https://cy.cyworld.com/cyMain) or MySpace (www.myspace.com). While the definition still fits perfectly in
2020, from the top platforms listed 10 years ago, only Facebook remains to be of global relevance according to
today's viewpoint. The ongoing change regarding which platform is considered relevant is similar to the current
situation with new social networks using Blockchain technologies. But the ‘coming and going’ of these platforms
is likely to be even faster than in the early days of traditional social networks.
1 Generalized, a node is a computer that operates a mirrored copy of a Blockchain, synchronized and verified with all other computers on
the network.
2 A fork means if a Blockchain diverges into two potential paths forward.
3 A timestamp is a sequence of characters or encoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, usually giving date and time
of day
4 An airdrop is a distribution of a cryptocurrency or token
5 Decentralization is the process by which the activities of an organization are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative
location or group
6 Nowadays referred to as social media
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Alexander Pfeiffer et al.
2. Related work
Ciriello et. al. (2018) describe a Blockchain Social Network (BSN) as:
[…] a decentralized social media platform that provides a reward mechanism for online user
behavior, such as the creation, curation, and consumption of user-generated online content, here
understood as social networking practices. Through their contributions, users gain reputation and
wealth in form of tokens. […]’ (p2)
This definition is limited to the use of blockchain tokens in the form of reward systems. Apart from using
cryptocurrencies and tradeable to FIAT currency tokens as Incentive (Zhang, 2019; Ciriello et. al., 2019) there
are some fundamental reasons to use Blockchain technology within the context of social networks. The following
potential applications have been identified by the authors:
 The embedding of existing or self-initiated (cf. Facebook Libra7) cryptocurrencies as a means of payment
within the Social Media platform. (Claim: Banking the unbanked) (Vivek, 2019)
 To establish decentralised name servers (Kalodner et. al, 2015)
 The use of Blockchain technologies to protect the ownership and/or author. (Cai et. al., 2018)
 Blockchain to prevent spreading rumours (Chen et. al 2018)
 Blockchain is used to prove that any media used it is a non-manipulated original (Bhowmik and Feng, 2017)
 Protect users from deep-fakes, due to Blockchain implementation. (Hasan and Salah, 2019)
[3,4 and 5 can be summarized as Fake News prevention]
 Safeguarding freedom of speech through decentralised server infrastructure (Stjernfelt and Lauritzen, 2020)
 Improve and secure Online Advertising (Pärssinen, 2018)
 Providing control over the sharing preferences (Murimi, 2019)
 Secure and encrypt peer2peer messages (Unger et. al, 2015)
 Digital Identity/log in management using self-sovereign identity (SSI) (Sovrin Foundation, 2017)
The authors propose the term Blockchain Embedded Social Networks (BESN) for all social networks and social
messenger services that have integrated blockchain technologies in one or more of the points mentioned above
and use the existing term Blockchain Social Networks (BSN) for platforms, where tokens or cryptocurrencies only
solve the purpose as reward for participation.
3. Blockchain technologies: Background
By definition, a Blockchain is a continuously growing chain of blocks, each of which contains a cryptographic
hash of the previous block, a time-stamp, and its conveyed data (Nofer et. al, 2017). Grech and Camilleri (2017)
describe (positive) effects of Blockchain technologies, like self-sovereignty, trust, transparency, immutability,
disintermediation and collaboration. The concept of Blockchain, as we know it today, derives from Satashi
Nakomoto’s Whitepaper ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System‘, published in late 2008. Originally
intended to create a non-manipulable account book to represent the possession of digital tokens, which in turn
are traded for money on exchanges or over-the-counter (peer2peer), it is now about the technology behind it
and what applications can possibly be developed using Blockchain technology to secure transactions. The idea
of using the Bitcoin Blockchain for more than ‘proof of payment transactions‘ arose from the fact that you can
attach text messages to a transaction. To create an account book of any imaginable transaction, a fraction of
Bitcoin (so-called Satoshis) was sent to an address and the text to be recorded was attached to it as a text
message and thus stored forever on Blockchain. However, if such information is simply stored as a text message
attached to the same kind of token, this strongly limits its possible applications. And since Bitcoin was not
originally intended for other applications apart from payment, in early 2010, a network in which sub-tokens
(metatokens) can be generated for a specific application was developed. The Blockchain systems NXT
(https://www.jelurida.com/nxt) and Ethereum (https://ethereum.org) are particularly noteworthy in this
context from a historical as well as current perspective. NXT was the first pure Proof of Stake (PoS) system, a
different approach regarding consensus finding to Proof of Work (PoW), which is by the way considered
environmentally friendly. The Blockchain Social Network Steem uses a Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS)
7 Fortune.com about Facebook Libra: https://fortune.com/longform/facebook-libra-stablecoin-digital-currency-crypto/
197

Alexander Pfeiffer et al.
consensus mechanism, where users with a high stake have more power over the distribution of the tokens than
users with a smaller stake (Ciriello et. al 2018). Dos Santos (2018) presents a detailed comparison of the two
mining algorithms/consensus finding mechanisms. On the other hand, Ethereum is the second most important
Blockchain system after Bitcoin, especially in terms of market capitalization. Both Blockchain systems mentioned
also have another distinct feature - the possibility to develop smart contracts8. While Ethereum makes this
possible with Solidity, a specially created programming language, NXT uses so-called lightweight smart contracts
in Java. This offers less design freedom, but potentially a higher level of security. Blockchains can be classified
into three major categories (cf. Wan et. al 2019):
 1. Private Blockchain: basically, a closed system and exclusively operated within organizations, businesses
or government structures. No information is disclosed to the outside world, except, where appropriate,
evidence of a transaction that has taken place.
 2. Consortium Blockchain: serves related parties that have a common goal and organizations can join the
consortium Blockchain on common agreements. Again, no information is disclosed to the outside world,
except, where appropriate, evidence of a transaction that has taken place.
 3. Public Blockchain: has no restrictions regarding joining/or leaving Blockchain. All information is public,
although it is possible to store some information in encrypted form.
Researchers like Konashevych (2018) argue that private and permissioned Blockchains are not to be considered
as a Blockchain in its original form. <Author removed for blind review> (2018) created a comparison table to
compare Blockchain systems on the sub-tokens/metatokens, often referred to as utility tokens (all meaning
tokens with a specific purpose, possibly other than use as means of payment), that can be generated. Besides
the already mentioned system NXT and Ethereum, there are (among others) worth mentioning systems,
including Ardor (https://ardorplatform.org/), Cardano (https://www.cardano.org/en/home/), Ethereum Classic
(https://ethereumclassic.org/), NEM (https://nem.io/), NEO (https://neo.org), Tron (https://tron.network/) and
Waves (https://wavesplatform.com). Nevertheless, due to the decentralized development, the still short time
(10 years) of the Blockchain idea itself and the interest of industry and society even more recently, there is still
no satisfactory standardized "wording" or "definition" of the different types of tokens (follow discussion e.g.
from Ballandies et. al. 2020) especially an urgently needed differentiation of various different utility tokens
according to their use cases. This classification could ensure that a different legal perspective applies to different
cases. Therefore, <Author removed for blind review> proposed a segmentation regarding Blockchain-based
assets at the <Conference not shown for peer review reasons (2019)>. The proposed category system is a further
iteration for the purpose of this paper:
 Cryptocurrencies: Tokens with the purpose to serve as currency supplement and to transfer monetary
values. Traded on dedicated exchanges or over the counter [Like Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC)]
 Stable-Coin: Tokens with the purpose to serve as currency supplement and to transfer monetary values,
with a nearly fixed conversion rate to a FIAT reserve currency [Like Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), AEUR
(AEUR)]
 Tradeable network maintenance utility tokens: Tokens which serve as a reward to maintain the network
and which are traded on exchanges. May also have aspects of other token categories, e.g. additionally serve
as cryptocurrency [Like Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), NXT (NXT), Ardor (Ardr)]
 Non free-tradeable network maintenance utility tokens: Not traded on exchanges, but their distribution can
determine the power within a consortium-based (or private) network [tokens that are not traded on
exchanges but distributed from a smart contract or centralised authority, mostly with a fixed number of
issued tokens from the beginning, like a typical PoS approach; this could be also a token that represents a
right to vote for something (and its voting power)]
 Tradeable utility tokens: Tokens that have a specific purpose, e.g. to represent a digital or a real good. The
value of this asset is determined by supply and demand on a token trading exchange [like Steem (Steem),
Augur (REP), or ‘historic’ approaches like Amps (AMP), NEXIUM (NXC)]
 Fixed-price (including peer2peer price-negotiable) tradeable utility tokens: Tokens that have a specific
purpose, e.g. to represent a digital or a real good. The value of the token is determined by the issuer; a third
party that has a contract with the original publisher that allows them to set the prices, as a result of
8 A smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines
of code. The code and the agreements contained therein exist across a distributed, decentralized Blockchain network.
198

Alexander Pfeiffer et al.
negotiations, or for example at a classic auction (as a restricted bargaining room) [any specific token that
represents e.g. a digital art piece, or a real life item of value (indicating its ownership]
 A (tradeable or non-tradable) token representing a share of ownership or a share of contribution to
something, leading e.g. a certain reward [Like KuCoin Shares (KCS), Huobi or Binance Coin (BNC)]
 Non-freely tradeable utility tokens: These tokens store data, such as certificates, grades, ownership of a
piece; fine art prints (e.g. limited edition prints, each with a unique number), or a last will; they can be a
unique (singleton) token per record or a message attached to a specific token when sending. A separate
series of tokens is generated for each different use case. Each series has its own asset ID on the respective
Blockchain. (the name of the series does not have to be unique, only the asset ID). This means: The moment
a message is added to one of the tokens (from a series) and this token is sent, the connection of the token
with the message and the rule that the token cannot be forwarded without the knowledge of the original
sender becomes a unique process, which is identified by the unique transaction ID. Messages can be
attached unencrypted or encrypted. This data is usually linked to a person or a property and is not (or only
under specific circumstances) tradable. It is also linked to a specific wallet (e.g. of the recipient). The
Singleton/Unique Token form of this category is similar to the concept of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
4. Aim of the research
The aims of the research are:
 To show which social media networks utilizing Blockchain technologies are known within the community
that has already heard of Blockchain per se and has encountered at least one BSN/BESN.
 Which of these applications are already in use (for reading and commenting or as content producer)?
 To identify which rewards are important to the people who know or use these networks.
 Discover how important privacy, data control and the location of the operator's headquarters are to the
survey participants.
 To find out whether the possibility of setting up a fan page or company page is an important function.
 To find out the importance of the user experience and other aspects such as reaching friends and relatives.
 To get a general opinion on the current situation of Blockchain enabled social networks as well as an outlook
for the near future.
5. Methods
Regarding the data collection a hybrid approach consisting of a qualitative and a quantitative method was used.
After intensive desk-research, and an exploratory phase in which the already available products were tested an
initial open interview was conducted with a social media specialist who has extensive experience with
BSN/BESN. Based on this interview, items for a survey have been defined and consequently an online survey
was made available between November 2019 and the first week of January 2020. A total of 105 respondents
registered their answers and in mid-January, the survey was followed by a moderated focus group, (Mayring,
2010) to discuss the results of the online survey.
5.1 Initial expert interview
The initial interview was conducted with Bernd Pfeiffer, co-founder of Limesoda GmbH (www.limesoda.com),
one of the leading Austrian Social Media agencies. Between January 2018 and January 2019, Limesoda operated
the Steemit.com site https://steemit.com/@limesoda, where they set up various test campaigns. The interview
truly assisted to set up the online questionnaire.
5.2 Online questionnaire
The online survey did not collect demographic data, instead the participants were asked to indicate from which
perspective they fill in the questionnaire. To do so, the participants should at least know one BSN and/or BESN
and the very basic principles of Blockchain technologies. No incentives were given to participate in the survey.
70 people from the private sector took part. 27 also have a professional background in social media and/or
blockchain. Table 1 gives an overview about the classification/perspective of the interviewee
classification/perspective.
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Alexander Pfeiffer et al.
Table 1: Interviewee perspective
Interviewee classification/perspective
Quantity
In Percent
A private user
70
66,67 %
Both private and corporate user
22
20,95 %
A person not using
Blockchain-based/Blockchain-enabled Social-Media Platforms,
interested in the topic
8
7,62 %
A corporate user (not running a private Social Media profile)
5
4,76 %
Miscellaneous
0
0,00 %
N=105
5.3 Focus group
The results of the online survey were discussed with the six participants of the moderated focus group. The exact
background of the six participants is described in Table 2.
Table 2: Participants of the focus group
Person ID
Gender
Backround
P1
female
Social Media user, running a successful fan page about her hobby, basic
knowledge on the topic of Blockchain technologies.
P2
male
Social Media user, mostly posting for friends and family, interested in the topic of
Blockchain technologies since 2016.
P3
queer
Content Manager for a small Social Media marketing company, experienced user
of Social Media platforms, tested several platforms that offer already Blockchain
integration.
P4
female
Content Manager for the marketing of a medium sized company, experienced
Social Media user in both private and professional context, however rather limited
knowledge on the topic of Blockchain.
P5
female
IT specialist and researcher, high level of Blockchain knowledge, is extremely
sceptical about current social networks. Currently has no online profile.
P6
male
Passively using Social Media, mostly to see others profiles and read ‘news’. Basic
knowledge about Blockchain, mostly from reading tweets and blogs.
6. Findings
6.1 Which BSN and/or BESN are known to the community
Table 3 shows which BSN/BESN are known to the community. The 105 participants of the survey had the chance
to make multiple entries. The total number of entries per network can be found in the right column. Steemit (by
far) and the two discontinued networks by Synereo (HyperSpace and Wildspark) are the best-known BSN/BESN.
The idea of those networks came up before the 2017 hype peak and that seems to be the reason why they are
well known by the community. The platforms of Synereo are not the only discontinued ones, most of the
platforms mentioned by the interviewees are either discontinued (or at least the underlying token without any
trading volume and delisted from exchanges) or they stopped their efforts before the beta. P2, P3 and P4 explain,
that those BSN (besides Steem) offering their own tradeable tokens have a high chance to be unsuccessful. It
seems that those approaches are only speculative bubbles and they never reach critical mass in trading volume
and user base. P5 commended ardor.rocks as an unimposing research prototype, that shows how tokens can be
built into a social network with a purpose beyond speculation. In this sense, the PoS network Ardor might be
worth looking at.
Table 2: Overview of BESN and BSN
Platform
Description
Token
(Abbreviation)
Status
URL
#
Steemit
The original BSN Network, you can share
posts in different categories and get
rewarded in Steem. It has a gamification
system, user can transfer Steem in the Steem
power wallet. This gives them more power in
Steem (STEEM)
Steem Dollars
(SBD)
Soon: Steem
Online
(Public)
//steemit.co
m/
87
200

Alexander Pfeiffer et al.
Platform
Description
Token
(Abbreviation)
Status
URL
#
the Network, but they can not sell it on
exchanges. Website was already near Top
1000 in the worldwide Alexa Website ranking,
currently 15000.
Media Token
(SMT)
Wildspark
Wildspark was a Platform by Synereo to bet
on new content on youtube.com, tumblr.com
or medium.com. User who discover quality
content (or content getting an attention by
other users) earned the cryptocurrency AMP,
which is now without any value or purpose.
AMP (AMP)
[no longer
traded]
Discont
.
//wildspark.
me/
[text why it
failed]
29
HyperSpace
HyperSpace was a Platform by Synereo where
users could host their own channels,
dedicated to specific topics. Same as
Wildspark it is offline since late 2019. The
Token AMP is now without any value or
purpose.
AMP (AMP)#
[no longer
traded]
Discont
.
//hyperspace
.app/
[text why it
failed]
23
Block.One
(voice)
Voice is planned to be a BSN run by the
company Block.one. It is possible to sign up
for the early paper and read the whitepaper.
Voice Token (?)
[not yet traded]
Beta
Wait
List
//voice.com/
8
Coil
Coil is a BESN where artists can receive small
payments from their followers. The payments
can be done via classic payment channels
(FIAT) or with the Cryptocurrency Ripple.
Uses the
Cryptocurrency
Ripple (XRP)
Online
(Public)
//coil.com/
8
Indorse
Indorse stopped their services as BSN, the
founders are now offering different
consulting services. The Token IND is now
without any value or purpose.
Indorse Token
(IND)
[no longer
traded / no
trading volume]
Discont
.
//indorse.io
[no longer a
Social
Network]
7
Sola
The BSN stopped, the domain is for sale. The
Token SOL is now without any value or
purpose.
Sola (SOL)
[no longer
traded / no
trading volume]
Discont
.
//sola.ai/
[domain for
sale]
7
Social X
The work on Social X appears to be
discontinued, although the website is still
online. The Token SOCX which was prerelased
is no longer traded, it seems to have lost
purpose and value.
Social X (SOCX)
[no longer
traded / no
trading volume]
Appear
Discont
.
//socialx.net
work/
5
Obsidian
While Obsidian as peer2peer encrypted
messenger is online available and working,
the original ODN Token is no longer traded,
has no purpose and now value.
Obsidian (ODN)
[no longer
traded]
Online
(Public)
//obsidianpla
tform.com/
5
PROPS Project
PROPS it a Blockchain-based loyalty Program
for Social Networks. It seems to receive
approved by US Authorities. However, the
current situation seems unclear. The token
appears not to be tradeable on classic
exchanges on purpose.
PROPS Token
(PROPS)
[not traded on
crypto
exchanges, on
purpose]
Project
Websit
e
Online
//www.prop
sproject.com
/
5
Diaspora
Is a BESN, where users can pick or host their
own POD, a POD is the server infrastructure
where the posted data is finally stored and
being accessed by the community.
/
Online
(Public)
//diasporafo
undation.org
/
5
SooMe (ONG)
Mee.Social call themselves a Blockchain-
powered dashboard. It is still accessible.
However, the underlying token is traded
which an extremely low volume and basically
without any value.
SoMee.Social
(ONG)
Online
(Public)
//www.ongc
oin.com/
//somee.soci
al
3
201

Alexander Pfeiffer et al.
Platform
Description
Token
(Abbreviation)
Status
URL
#
All.me
All.me is a digital ecosystem (BESN) that
combines a social network, trading platform
and payment service. The platform is
available. However, the company behind
stopped updates on all relevant channels in
October 2019. The token underlying the
platform is traded on one exchange with low
volume.
Me Token (ME)
(traded on
Coin.all
exchanges, not
listed on
coinmarketcap.c
om)
Online
(Public)
//all.me/
//token.all.m
e/
3
Minds
Minds is a BESN, content producers earn
Minds and can upgrade with them their
account. Minds can also be purchased directly
on minds.com. Content producers can receive
tips in major cryptocurrencies and through
FIAT payment channels.
Minds
(Online available
on Minds.com
Website)
Online
(Public)
//www.mind
s.com/
3
Utopia
Utopia is a software that enables user to host
their own client and be part of a decentralised
communication network. The code behind is
partly released on github. The purpose of CRN
the underlying Blockchain-Token is not clear,
nor seems it to be traded on exchanges.
Crypton (CRN)
(not listed on
coinmarketcap,
not tradeable on
exchanges)
Online
(Public)
//u.is/en/
1
Whaleshares
Whaleshares is a BSN, the last posting from a
user was in August 2019. The underlying
token is not (no longer) tradeable on
exchanges.
Whaleshares
Token (WLS)
(not listed on
coinmarketcap,n
ot tradeable on
exchanges)
Online
(Public)
//whaleshar
es.io/
//whaleshar
es.io/pod_lis
t
1
Ardor.rocks
Ardor.rocks is a fully working tech demo, with
a small community of less than 500 people.
The aim of the project is to show the
possibilities of the Ardor Blockchain to set up
Social Media based on Token Economics
easily implementing Lightweight Smart
Contracts. The Token ROCKS can be traded on
the Ignis (Childchain of Ardor) exchange for
the purpose to show the proof of concept.
Rocks (ROCKS)
[traded only on
the IGNIS
exchange for
tech demo
purposes]
Online
(Public)
//ardor.rocks
/
1
Breaker
BESN with the goal to distribute Art (Videos)
from Content Producers to the Audience. It
uses directly ETH and did not create a token
on its own.
Uses Ethereum
[ETH]
Online
(Public)
//www.brea
ker.io/
1
Musiccoin
Musiccoin is BSN for musicians and music
lovers. The service is still available, but the
underlying token MUSIC has been delisted
from exchanges and its basically without
value.
Musicoin
(MUSIC)
[delisted on
exchanges,
inactive on
coinmarketcap]
Online
(Public)
//musicoin.o
rg/
1
Pocketnet.ap
p
Pocketnet.app is a BSN, with a token that is
not traded public. It is still active with at least
several postings per hour.
Token not
traded public
Online
(Public)
//pocketnet.
app/
1
Podium
There is hardly any information available
besides an announcement in summer 2019.
Not described
Not yet
online
//www.podi
um-
network.com
/
1
Bittube
Bittube is a browser extension that enables
according to the producers save browsing on
the internet and a free VPN network. The
extension enables the possibility to tip
content producers with TUBE on several
social networks.
BitTube (TUBE)
(listed on
coinmarketcap,
extremely low
trading volume)
Online
(Public)
//bittubeapp
.com/
1
Information as of January 2020
N=105
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Alexander Pfeiffer et al.
6.2 Participation/content contributions of BSN/BESN
Table 4 shows which BSN/BESN are actually used as recipients (left side) or as content producers (right side).
Again, Steemit is the only relevant platform. HyperSpace and Wildspark have both suddenly been taken offline
during the period of the questionnaire. The sudden discontinuation of these platforms was also commented by
the participants of the online survey who filled in the questionnaire after the discontinuation with very strident
comments in the open field. As with all platforms where you have to invest money in tokens and/or earn the
tokens through hard work, it is understandably awful to suddenly lose this supposed wealth, commented P1 and
P2.
Table 3: Usage of BSN/BESN
Participating as reader (passive)
Participating as contributors (actively)
Platform
Quantity
(Multiple
Choices
possible)
In Percent
Platform
Quantity
(Multiple
Choices
possible)
In Percent
Steemit
52
86,67
Steemit
26
81,25
HyperSpace
10
16,67
HyperSpace
6
18,75
Wildspark
7
11,67
Wildspark
5
15,63
Diaspora
3
5,00
Coil
1
3,13
Social X
1
1,67
Whaleshares
1
3,13
Coil
1
1,67
Ardor.Rocks
1
3,13
Ardor.Rocks
1
1,67
Musiccoin
1
3,13
Breaker
1
1,67
Bittubers
1
3,13
N=60
N=32
6.3 Which aspects are important to act as a reward
Hearts, likes and thumbs up have been rated far above average (which is 3) with (3.94) (see Table 5) . The reward
with nice comments is still slightly above average (3.3), followed by the desire to be rewarded by good content
with vouchers (3.28). Rewards with tokens that can be exchanged for money or with existing cryptocurrencies
are both rated below average. Whereby the possibility of stable coins (2.7) is seen slightly more positive than an
additional gamble with tokens, where the price is determined by supply and demand. P1, P2 and some of the
online survey participants have also pointed out that comments are rewarded with an extra large number of
tokens, so if they get a lot of likes (upvotes), they are obviously just empty positive phrases like 'I like it' or 'more
of it' just to earn tokens. In other words, a culture of simply linking and commenting on things with neutral
phrases has spread. The advantage, however, is that the idea of being rewarded with blockchain based vouchers
was positively highlighted in the comments and also by the focus group participants. As such, it is important to
prevent a black-market and peer2peer trade. P5 particularly emphasizes that this can help to avoid double-
spending, make the forgery of vouchers (nearly) impossible, but also allows for automatic billing and more
complex gamification and loyalty systems.
Table 4: What is perceived as rewarding
Categories related to receiving Rewards [very important (5) to not Important (1)]
Importance
Reward with likes, hearts or similar symbols
3,94
Show my success and be envied for it (get praise through comments)
3,3
Getting rewarded with vouchers or coupons for products (for my postings, likes and comments))
3,28
Getting rewarded with crytocurrencies or Blockchain-tokens that are convertible to leading
cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, XRP, LTC, BCH or directly to FIAT currencies at a fixed price always
measured in a leading FIAT currency like USD (for postings, likes, comments and sharing data)
2,7
Getting rewarded with cryptocurrencies or Blockchain-tokens that are convertible to leading
cryptocurrencies or directly to FIAT currencies at a variable price (for postings, likes and comments)
2,61
N=105
6.4 How important is privacy and ownership to the community?
Privacy settings (3,91) and ownership of the data is (3,9) is far above average (3), asking if those aspects are
important. In the open field several participants mentioned that ‘the Cambridge Analytica’ scandal and recent
hearings from Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, helped to better understand privacy on the internet.
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Alexander Pfeiffer et al.
Furthermore, the mass media and documentaries on streaming networks are more and more picking on this
topic in their coverage. On the other hand, where the headquarters are located only scored 3 (see Table 6). P2,
P3 and P5, however, have emphasized the importance of precisely this aspect and have shown that those
BSN/BESN which have failed, and which are also accused of fraudulent behaviour by the community were
located in countries where a certain level of basic scepticism could possibly be expressed.
Table 5: Privacy and ownership
Privacy, Ownership and Location of Provider [very important (5) to not Important (1)]
Importance
General aspect of privacy and sophisticated privacy settings
3,91
Ownership of the data
3,9
Country the headquarter of the Social Media company behind is located
3,24
N=105
6.5 Importance of certain functionalities and outreach
The user experience (3,92), an already existing large user group (3,79) and the possibility of open communication
using comment fields (3,72) is perceived as important (see Table 7). Quite important is the making of new
friendships (3,5) and easy connection with other social networks (3,45). The fact that family and close friends
receive the content is only seen as relatively important (3,26). P4 supports this fact. It just has to look great on
all the platforms you can use, and you have to understand the functions almost instantly and have fun scrolling
through them. Therefore the user journey is very important.
Table 6: Functions and outreach
User Journey and Functions, Outreach, [very important (5) to not Important (1)]
Importance
the user-journey and user experience of the platform
3,92
a high total number of possible users I can reach out to
3,79
comment field or chat with users
3,72
getting to know new friends
3,5
easy sharing and interaction with other well-known Social-Media platforms
3,45
sharing my life with family and friends
3,26
N=105
6.6 Hobby, fan pages and corporate sites
To set up a fan-, project-, hobby- or a company page is regarded by the participants as basically important (see
Table 8). Whereby the possibility to do this without needing a personal profile is preferred (3.61 to 3.56). P5
commented this small difference with a giggle. She hasn't been using her real name in social media for several
years and is extremely sceptical about the distribution of her data. P3 and P4 also think it's good to be able to
be professional on many platforms without also being privately registered. This implies that self-sovereign
identity approaches could also make things a lot easier in the future.
Table 7: Importance of fan- hobby and corporate pages
Fan page, Hobby-related page, Corporate Site [very important (5) to not Important (1)]
Importance
possibility to set up a fan-page or professional page without needing a personal page
3,61
possibility to set up a fan-page or professional page besides my personal page
3,56
N=105
7. Future research
The potential applications of blockchain technologies for social media, as described in the related work section,
must be considered in the future as a crosslinked and not as a separate concept. In this context, different
technologies and especially Blockchain systems must be considered. Based on the aspects described here, the
reasons for the failure of most networks must be discussed further and whether the freely tradable tokens,
where each BSN uses its own token, is to blame for this. Furthermore, the aspect of digital Blockchain-based
vouchers should be considered more closely as it seems that there is still an unused market. Here, the vouchers
would have to be bound to a fixed wallet of the user and only serve the purpose of redeeming them at the
respective company, i.e. a black market must be avoided (and that is exactly where Blockchain is an excellent
tool).
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Alexander Pfeiffer et al.
8. Conclusion
Providers of BSN/BESN must respond more to the needs of users. After the many failures of recent years, the
fancy marketing vocabulary no longer reaches the people who experienced the market crash in 2018-2020. After
the hype and the many empty promises, it is important to build again solid working platforms with blockchain
functionalities. Blockchain technologies have an incredible potential, not simply to reward users with almost
worthless tokens, but to secure existing platforms against fake news, identity theft, deep-fake videos. Blockchain
can also be used to protect any media from unwanted changes and to map the original source including the
necessary metadata in a tamper-proof way. Finally, further research with larger target groups and changed
methodologies is recommended, as the survey results presented in this paper are based on the self-assessment
of the participants and therefore only cover the target group which, according to the participants themselves,
have already encountered Blockchain technologies in the field of social media.
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