Defining a New Era of the Web
Zion is leading the transition from "Web 2.0" to "Web 3.0"
Zion Today
Zion is a challenger to the status quo, a centralized internet (Web 2.0) dominated by an oligarchy of unelected authorities that enrich themselves at the expense of their users: commodifying data, exploiting content, and violating trust.
The following interoperable functions are all currently available on the Zion app:
- Join Communities: Communities are forums created by Zion users to discuss, share and get paid for their contributions. Subscribing to a creator’s community is like “voting with your money”: if you love the content you see, participate in the discussion, boost other fans’ comments, or directly compensate the creator.
- Chat with Friends: Messages are essentially snippets of content coded into Lightning transactions, ensuring conversations are untraceable and end-to-end encrypted.
- Pay Anyone: Zion wallets are fully interoperable with the Lightning Network, so users can instantly transact payments across borders with no added fees. The Lightning Network’s growth is accelerating at a blistering rate — and bringing Zion along for the ride.
- Omni-Directional Payments: Zion’s built-in value exchange protocol seamlessly moves micropayments through bi-directional payment channels:
- Audience to Creator: Securely pay to see exclusive, premium, or unreleased content, send tips and directly support a creator’s career
- Audience to Audience: Boost top comments and reward valuable contributions from fellow users
- Creator to Audience: Release new content, live stream podcasts, and facilitate meaningful engagement by rewarding fans’ contributions to the community
Ultimate Vision for Zion and Social Media:
Our ultimate vision for Zion transcends a role as the primary payment processor for the rapidly-expanding creator economy. Zion brings the decentralizing force of Bitcoin to social media.
Why are social networks like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter free to use?
Because you are the product.
More specifically, the “products” that social media companies deliver to their customers (advertisers) are the subtle, imperceptible changes in users’ behaviors, beliefs and perceptions of reality.
Capitalizing on their role as gatekeepers of digital content, social media companies harvest and hoard treasure troves of user data. Bought and sold as a commodity, this personal information calibrates algorithms that manipulate what users see, buy and do online. These algorithms are undetected: they’re deceptive, sneaky, and pinpointed, siloing users in echo chambers that misinform, polarize and sow discord across society.
Tasked with the daunting responsibility of moderating content posted by billions of users, social media companies have asserted themselves as the de facto “arbiters of truth” online. On the pretext of protection, their “Trust & Safety” departments act with impunity to censor dissenting voices.
Public opinion of social media companies has deteriorated as the profound implications of their power have become clearer in recent years. Unfortunately, there’s not much that individuals can do: fully participating in online discourse requires the use of digital infrastructure controlled by a handful of internet oligarchs. These data-rich companies that enjoy an 'advantageous feedback loop' that continuously entrenches their monopolies.
As the first decentralized social networking platform built on Bitcoin, Zion is meaningfully positioned to push the bounds of “social media.” We believe the future of online communication is:
- Peer-to-Peer: Direct transactions between peers are transparent, simple and efficient.
- Built on Digital Money: Digital communication and commerce infrastructure are equally critical to a modern, functioning society. It only makes sense that the next generation of social networks are built on the most secure, censorship-resistant and antifragile foundation available.
- Incentivizes Creation + Value-Additive Consumption: Financial rewards encourage creativity and originality. There’s no way for creators to promote their content, and users only see what they opt into. Because there is no way to fake engagement, users are incentivized to create content that others actually want to see.
In the near future, we anticipate expanding Zion’s existing suite of tools designed to help creators succeed. Our team of developers is working to incorporate engagement statistics, growth insights, and direct integration of ecommerce and merchandising options.
Last modified 7mo ago
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