How Web technologies became the cornerstone of Human development. (Part 2)
You will find part one here.
As cryptocurrencies gain in popularity, human development follows closely through web-based initiatives and financial incentives. Whether you use a mobile phone in the streets, a tablet at home or a desktop at a cyber cafe, there is the opportunity to monetise your time and get paid for going around the web. Let’s look at some of these emerging Earn-As-You-Browse applications.
The searchers
Presearch started in the field as a meta-search engine that encourages a decentralised approach to web browsing and online marketing. It makes use of the PRE token to pay users when they complete their online searches via the Presearch framework. Instead of being limited to Google or Bing, users can switch between multiple providers among which Duckduckgo, Quora, Reddit, Stackoverflow, CoinmarketCap. There is a lot of time saved, since the results that are displayed are most relevant to the keywords.
Over time, Presearch understood that there is more to gain in human development by placing more marketing power in the hand of users. Since 2019, people can stake their hard-earned PRE tokens to lock-in keywords that will help other users find their online business. The benchmark for keyword staking currently sits at 1000 PRE, and a lot of cryptocurrency exchanges have been taking advantage of the no-cost per click to make an impression on web users.
The tipsters
Brave Browser uses the cryptocurrency BAT to promote mindful browsing and rewards users for their attention. If you have your own creation/work, you can register your website/social media account and become eligible for recurrent tipping by viewers. You can also sign up to receive targeted ads and collect fractions of the cryptocurrency in return.
At the end of each month, you get paid what you earned directly into your in-browser crypto wallet. Creators also get extra BAT if visitors on their websites viewed proposed ads. As now, the downside of this system is that the payouts are still dependent on your region of origin: the less “developed” your country is, the less you are likely to earn from ads. From a human development point of view, there is still room for improvement in Brave’s setup.
The spotters
By contrast, Web 3.0 Social media platform Cent removes all geographical constraints on earnings for participants. It uses ETH and Web3 wallets to offer a much straightforward earning experience. When you attach a capped reward to a post you have made, everybody is incentivised to read and respond consequently. You can then reward the best X number of answers in proportion to the reward on offer.
Another option for earning money in the spirit of shared abundance is by seeding people’s posts and responses to get a share of future rewards they will receive. Since any response can attract a reward, spotting is also a good way to directly acknowledge and promote your favourite contributor. This in turn raises the profile of the whole Cent community at large. When standards are raised and everyone benefits, there is no doubt that human development takes a giant step forward.
The givers
On a different scale, Giveth is a more ambitious consortium that aims to support grassroots entrepreneurship and social good exclusively via Blockchain and Web3 technologies. Currently, the Giveth Donation App allows contributors to support a variety of causes in all accountability and transparency. The objective is to not only to create a greater liquidity for users, but also to promote flexibility in the use of funds on the platform.
In a pledge for human development, Giveth has created a new ecosystem of giving and governance with Decentralised Altruistic Communities (DACs) at its center. Team members give up their time and knowledge and receive in return a fraction of what they would normally be paid for their contribution via crypto donations. DACs essentially model the concept of charitable giving and collaboration for the greater good.
It would be impossible to cover all aspects of Human development that are currently being powered through Blockchain, because the developments in web technologies are seemingly infinite. Instead, why not become a participant yourself and experiment directly with this Brave New World of Web 3.0, since the incentives are here to stay?
Useful resources:
Internet Society: The Internet and sustainable development