Blockchain Technology in Social Media

Though it started as cryptocurrency exchanges, Blockchain has shown promising features in other operations as well. The online world is on the verge of becoming a reliable economy with secure transactions and data.

So, are there any benefits one can derive from using blockchain technology in social media

1. Using Blockchain for news and information verification

At the beginning of this year, Facebook deleted about 583 million fake accounts. These accounts were posting fake news.

Fake information is the biggest problem of social media these days. Anything can get viral and become a truth within hours. In that scenario, if a fake news gets viral, bad situations can occur.

Thankfully, blockchain is capable of resolving this with ledger system. The functions such as personal verification, information verification, and data verification are all possible with blockchain. If you look at the framework offered by oxcert, it showcases how developers can authenticate every information with decentralized applications.

Famous as Dapps, decentralized applications can allow everyone to manage their digital information. This framework leverages authentication to verify IDs, content, and posts. Similarly, blockchain also makes data collection on social media platforms easier.

Social media platforms are heading towards blockchain at a fast pace. Third-party providers are helping platforms to incorporate this technology for verification.

2. Letting users control who sees their data and how much

From the market perspective, social media is a collection of data. If a user doesn’t get control over this, data can reach third parties. Every post, like, or share creates a behavioral profile of the user. This profile is the reason you receive news and ads according to your preference.

However, these informational pieces can also allow third parties to manipulate a user. Hacking personal information and selling it to other parties are the issues that social media sector is facing nowadays.

Blockchain has the capacity to put an end to this activity. There are blockchain applications that allow users to control their data. They can decide who sees their information and how much. Skycoin is a great example of allowing users to manage their information. Every platform requires permissions to access the data, which keeps users’ information secure.

The technology can help users to charge a fee for their information when sharing with advertisers. Hence, one can select the right people to get access to the correct data.

3. Improving crowdfunding on social media

Crowdfunding is helping startups to grow faster. The money is also raised for charities. These activities are taking place on social media platforms as well. And Blockchain is the right direction to make crowdfunding as private, transparent, and faster. Blockchain technology makes investors feel secure and works against money laundering too.

Social networks that are enabled by blockchain make crowdfunding easier for investors. Peers can track contracts, accept payments and verify users without taking any extreme measures.

To conclude

The blockchain is in the middle of disrupting different industries and providing substantial benefits. If incorporated effectively, these benefits can improve the way users look at social media platforms. Data can become secure and users can rely on third-parties. Only time will tell how it all pans out.

Blockchain Technology and Data Security

When it comes to security, computers have never been considered as the most reliable ones. Someone always finds a way to gain access into your computer and misuse the data. This is where blockchains make their entry. In simple terms, a blockchain is an ever expanding list of blocks or records which are connected and secured with cryptographic methods.

Blockchains are used to share precious data over a secure medium. They store data with advanced mathematics and software that are not very easy for hackers to invade.

Let us understand why blockchains are considered secure. In a bitcoin blockchain, the data that is shared contains information about all the bitcoins that have been mined. This can be referred to as an accounting ledger which is stored as a number of copies on a computer network called ‘nodes’. Each time there is a transaction, the nodes ensure that it is a valid one. Valid transactions are added to the other blocks.

Why can blockchain security be considered as hack-proof?

This technology is considered secure with respect to two things:

• Cryptographic fingerprint (hash) assigned to blocks which are unique to them
• The process of sharing history on a network by the nodes also called ‘consensus protocol’.

Generating a hash is time and energy consuming. It involves a huge amount of computational power to earn a bitcoin. It acts as a seal too, because if the block is modified, a new hash is created. Hash verification is easily done by the nodes and the blockchain is updated.

Another feature is that hashes are the links in a blockchain. Each block carries its predecessor block’s hash. When an entry in the ledger has to be modified, a new hash needs to be calculated for all blocks. This has to be accomplished at a lightning speed or else other nodes will keep adding blocks. To achieve this, supercomputers much powerful than all the nodes put together are needed. Else, the added blocks will interfere with the existing ones and nodes would reject them. This process makes the blockchains secure, theoretically.

Any technology is subject to loopholes. Hackers have innovative ways to break into blockchains. There are ways to destabilize a blockchain and a hacker can control a node’s transactions by tricking it. There have been certain cryptocurrency hacks, in recent times where hackers have invaded the e-wallets. But hacking onto a blockchain is not worth the trouble. Since it is very expensive and consumes tons of computational power.

In conclusion, blockchain technology is indeed sturdy, private and secure. You cannot ignore it since it solves enormous problems everywhere, including businesses. After rigid testing practices in pilot cases and by governments and companies, blockchains have proved to be tremendously secure. Institutions everywhere are fast adopting it for their day to day transactions. The advantages are far more significant than the risks it poses. All systems are vulnerable in a world of technology.  Blockchains are still in the nascent stage and have a long way to go to achieve tamperproof perfection.