Recent events suggest that the tech-giant hosted internet is becoming a less friendly place for certain viewpoints. Content creators fitting these molds may find themselves in need of new homes outside of the control of these corporations. Companies like Twetch have shown how the Bitcoin ledger can serve as this home. Further, they have demonstrated how integrating payments can turn the existing "data slave" model on its head. The future is bright, as they say.
What is needed is a migration from the old platforms to the new. Standing in the way is a classic "chicken and egg problem." Important content creators won't leave without their following, and followers will stay where the content creators live.
Efforts such as Twetchdat and Windbell have been introduced on Twetch to alleviate this issue from the follower's standpoint. Tagging @twetchdat in a twitter response archives the preceding thread to the Bitcoin ledger and posts the thread on Twetch. Windbell allows Twetch users to duplicate a social media feed on Twetch so that they can access all of the information they seek in one app. This is done for a small fee. Users who fund windbells can even generate revenue from doing so if others subscribe to their feeds.
Twitter users can tag @twetchdat to archive a tweet on the BSV ledger and post the tweet to Twetch
@Twetchdat created this post on Twetch which can also be viewed on-chain.
The problem with Twetchdat and Windbell is the content creators don't benefit from this scenario and may even see it as predatory. While these tools may demonstrate that interest for specific content exists on Twetch, it doesn't build a usable following for the content creator. There is no Bitcoin carrot to accompany Big Tech’s stick. What would be ideal is a solution where content creators could start to build a following and to generate revenue on platforms like Twetch without even realizing it. Imagine finding out that you already have thousands of followers and likes which led to thousands of USD worth of BSV waiting for you. If BSV price increases in the interim, there could be even larger prizes waiting to be claimed.
A new technology in BSV makes this ideal achievable. Xoken Labs is an infrastructure solutions provider for the BSV space. They have created a namespace solution for Bitcoin called Allegory. It is a way of generating a human readable name which can be owned in the same way Bitcoin can be owned: on-chain.
Ownership on Allegory comes in two forms - owning a name itself, and owning the ability to create new names with the same prefix. Consider the name Ali. If I own both of these rights for Ali, I can sign and receive payments as Ali, and I can also create the name Alice. If I want, I can sell the name Alice to another user without selling the right to create the name AliceJ or Alice2 which each share the prefix Alice.
This gives companies like Twetch the ability to create a namespace where they control the ability to initially create all names, but their users can actually own their name. Almost like a domain name, Twitch could own “Tw/.” They could then create the names “Tw/ElonMoist,” “Tw/Randy,” “Tw/Jack,” “Tw/Naval,” etc., and sell or gift these to users.
Combining the “Tw/” prefix with another unique ID system like Twitter on Allegory can be very powerful. Let's say Twetch owns the “Tw/” namespace on Allegory. Imagine if a Windbell user sponsored a new feed which followed the Twitter handle @Jack. A windbell for @Jack could trigger Twetch to mint a new account “Tw/Jack.” That account could start receiving real follows and likes on Twetch, acquiring BSV over time. If @Jack decides to claim the Twetch account using some traditional authentication method, then Twetch would transfer him the Allegory handle “Tw/Jack” and @Jack could access the Bitcoin and the followers.
A solution like this creates a powerful bridge to BSV. Followers can migrate to BSV and still get all of the content they are seeking. They can start creating a carrot to attract their favorite content creators to their desired platforms. Not all of these creators will migrate, but they are a lot more likely to consider a new platform if there is a pot of money attached to it. The money also helps to demonstrate the superiority of these new platforms where they can earn directly from their content. Ultimately, we want these creators to cut the cord on the old system and bring their followers into a new economic paradigm. Further, if the old system cuts the cord on them, this system gives them a soft landing if they have a robust audience on Twetch. Allowing creators to earn effortlessly is a great way to show instead of tell about the power of Bitcoin for content.
Xoken Allegory is launching on Xoken’s new platform Tonne. The Beta is expected to launch within a week of this publication. To stay up to date on Xoken’s Tonne and Allegory, head to tonne.app/hello.