Decentralized Identity Systems and the Future of Marketing

What if SSI evolved into more freedom for Content creators and influencers that resulted in an Ad-free blockchain internet?

Instagram stories have become intercepted with Ad-spam,

it’s a pretty terrible user experience. As Facebook seeks to monetize Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram?—?since Facebook’s flagship app is a dying app; the message is clear. Centralized Ads are polluting the internet. Whatever you believe self-sovereign-identity is, blockchain needs to decentralize identity systems on the internet to ensure consumer privacy, control and freedom.

The Emergence of the Next Web Based on Blockchain

A digital identity that’s accountable to human rights, is that so much to ask? Digital creators and influencers need to have full-rights to their creations just as consumers should have full rights to their data, which they can then barter or sell or trade via tokens with advertising platforms. Facebook and Google’s model is all wrong, it’s the past.

I’m following a lot of crypto projects related to UBI and the decentralized identity systems that reward people better. One of the terms I like the most is called “self-sovereign marketing”, where several startups are looking into creating more fairness in content and referral traffic for influencers in a more transparent way.

Everytime I post on LinkedIn, in the back of my mind I’m wondering why I don’t get paid. On Medium, I can put my articles behind a paywall and make a living wage. Why would I ever post again on Instagram or Twitter without some measurable return on investment? I need social media to work for me. If I have 195,000 followers on LinkedIn, that has to mean something.

Human Rights on the Internet

What people do should matter, and their digital rights not just to privacy, but to empowerment is key for how we build the internet and restart it with blockchain. SSI should not just serve Governments in how they track citizens on centralized blockchains. There must be an aspect of decentralization where the peer-to-peer aspect empowers people globally. Imagine if LinkedIn actually worked that way, and wasn’t just a spin-off of Microsoft? Imagine if Facebook stood for something more than a “family of apps” that is just an advertising machine?

SSI should complement existing advertising and government digital identity systems, just as Bitcoin and over 2,000 digital assets already complements how fiat transactions, investment, trading and assets work. Decentralization is about bringing the internet a new era of freedom, stability and alternatives to what’s not working. Let’s be honest, Google and Facebook should probably be broken up. (We don’t need the inventor of the Internet to tell us that). They are too centralized and have become corrupt.

In a future world of decentralized identity,

consumers will have more rights and advertising and
brands will open up a new era of ethical influencer marketing.

The Sociology of Decentralization

As mistrust of centralized tech companies grows, in proportion the movement towards decentralization syncs with our collective values.

At the same time now you have people like JP Morgan saying they are behind Ethereum. We can only assume the rise of digital assets and a token based economy will herald new options and alternatives for consumers on the next phase of the internet. We can’t stay on Facebook family apps and think it’s okay anymore. Consumers will demand better experiences, just like I as an indie journalist need incentives that motivate me and don’t just exploit me for my creativity.

Decentralization is the Key in How we Transition Past Advertising to the Next WebSelf-sovereign identity platforms need to scale with the future of how the internet will work. Their dApps need to empower consumers where new ecosystems of value can emerge that create more level playing fields.Capitalism without trust and blockchain might have trouble sustaining its value based on the old tricks (like vanity metrics for instance).As Instagram itself becomes saturated with stories that no longer have relevance to our fleeting attention, a new generation of apps will take its place.Many of those will have self-sovereign marketing built into them. This is already happening with many micro-video apps, you just might not be aware of it yet.

Self Sovereign Marketing will scale a new model of advertising

and change the internet forever.SSM will Hardcore Opportunity and Authenticity in the next Era of Social Marketing Advertising just like physical retail, needs to adapt to the values of the new consumer. Decentralization identity systems will augment how consumers participate in the future of advertising. Any blockchain startup that’s pioneering better incentives for these apps is ultimately contributing to the future of self-sovereign identity and self-sovereign marketing, SSI and SSM respectively. One day I’ll do a survey covering the main ones.

In a world of cryptoeconomic freedom, social platforms won’t own our data, we will. We’ll be driven by economic incentives to collaborate and create, in an open-source and permissionless manner where we’ll have unparalleled self-governance to explore our interests and abilities online compared to the enslavement of the internet today. Digital assets are pointing to a new model of how the internet of the future will work.

Article Produced By
Michael K. Spencer

https://medium.com/futuresin/decentralized-identity-systems-and-the-future-of-marketing-c6e1fde04552