Minds


Minds is a free and open source distributed social networking service that uses the blockchain to reward the community with ERC20 tokens. Users can use their tokens to promote their content or to crowdfund other users through monthly subscriptions to their exclusive content and services.
Minds has become popular for its commitment to privacy, decentralization, optional anonymity, radical transparency, free speech, and user rewards in contrast to the surveillance, secrecy, censorship, and algorithm manipulation it alleges occurs on many proprietary social networks.
Minds describes itself as a "Crypto Social Network" that upholds internet freedom.

History

Minds was co-founded in 2011 by Bill Ottman and John Ottman as an alternative to social networks such as Facebook, who they believe abuse digital rights. Other cofounders were Mark Harding, Ian Crossland, and Jack Ottman.
Minds launched to the public in June 2015.
In June 2017, the company raised over $1 million in the fastest equity-crowdfunded sale up to that time.
In March 2018, Minds exited Beta and launched a white paper and testnet for its new native mobile apps and Ethereum integration.
In October 2018, Minds raised $6 million in Series A funding from Medici Ventures, an Overstock.com subsidiary. Patrick M. Byrne, founder and CEO of Overstock.com, will join Minds’ board of directors.

Usage

Users can use tokens to advertise their content across the social network. Minds states that the boost system is designed to be "anti-surveillance" and has "organic reach". The price of one-thousand views is the price of one token on the network. Minds offers a premium subscription for 5 tokens per month that gives users access to exclusive content, the ability to become verified, and to "banish all the boosted posts" from their feed.

Reception

Minds has been featured by Business Insider, VentureBeat, Observer, Barron's, and Breitbart. A Facebook Anonymous page showed support for privacy features. Engadget has since expressed concern that other fringe groups could undermine the platform's ability to deliver accurate and curated content. The social network has attracted criticism for purportedly being a "haven" for neo-Nazis and far-right groups and individuals. In response to the allegations, the site banned several accounts associated with neo-Nazism.