In an interview with Zachary Edwards, Content Lead at Subsocial, a Polkadot Parachain and Web3 social platform, we delve into their innovative Creator Staking system. Edwards presents a social infrastructure chain that uses Polkadot's technology to facilitate on-chain interactions without the need for wallets, tokens, or confirmation pop-ups. Subsocial recently introduced a creator staking system that incentivizes token holders to stake the native token, SUB, in support of registered creators. In return, creators receive rewards based on the tokens staked on their content. This system is designed to encourage content creation, reward creators, and enhance network curation. Subsocial also plans to implement a permissionless, on-chain governance model in the future.
The following is a Q&A with Zachary Edwards.
Tell me about Subsocial.
Subsocial is a Web3 social platform and Polkadot parachain focused on empowering creators and communities with monetization and communication tools, and allowing users to own their content, data, social graph, and revenue stream. The platform supports third-party developers with an easy-to-use SDK, enabling the development of social applications, or the addition of social features into existing (Web2 or Web3) apps. Subsocial places a heavy focus on creating a seamless user experience, in order to onboard millions of users from Web2 in a frictionless manner. With our unique technology, users can interact on-chain without needing wallets or tokens, effectively producing an experience identical to what we are familiar with in Web2. It’s so simple, even your grandma can use it.
What is your vision for the future of social media? What new ways can creators earn and engage with users with Subsocial?
I see the future of social media shifting power from the platforms to the users, letting people make their own choices and interact with others how they want. By introducing creator staking , creators on Subsocial will “own” their audience and revenue streams, meaning nobody can take them away (like when a YouTuber gets banned, for example, and loses all of their subscribers). On Subsocial, creators can earn and benefit from producing quality creations, and from the network growing, by being voted on by their community, as part of creator staking.
On top of this, Subsocial enables the creation of private communities for creators and communities to interact, which can be gated by a variety of things, such as NFTs, token balances, or whether you’re staking to a particular creator.
Creator staking comes as part of the latest upgrade to Subsocial. What does this mean for the platform?
Creator staking functions as a monetization method for creators, and as a second-layer curation system and growth tool for Subsocial, with a wide range of implications. I see it as a real catalyst for the network. Creator staking effectively aligns incentives for every participant in the network, stimulating them to help grow the network and increase its value, resulting in a better experience for everyone involved - this is one of the key principles of good blockchain systems, and something sorely missing in Web2 social networks.
What is creator staking? How does it work?
Creator staking allows holders of the SUB token to stake towards creators of content, applications, and communities, which all facilitate network and ecosystem growth. Stakers will receive the same amount of tokens regardless of who they stake towards, making their stake an incentivized vote that provides a curation signal to the network. Creators receive rewards depending on how many tokens are staked towards them, incentivizing them to produce better creations to sway stakers’ votes.
Of the tokens allocated for creator staking, 50% will be distributed to creators, and 50% to stakers. Each of these pots will be split up according to how many tokens each user stakes, and how many tokens are staked to each creator. Users can stake on Sub.ID’s creator staking page.
What does this mean for the typical user? What about creators?
Users will have an extra opportunity to help curate the network and support their favorite creators in the process. From the content creator’s perspective, there will be an increased desire to interact and engage with their community, and the ability to monetize their content without relying on ads or selling private content. Additionally, application creators will be able to establish revenue streams early, instead of having to rely on VC investments.
How does this differ from traditional social media platforms?
On existing platforms like X (formerly Twitter), users can like and repost content, which gives a positive signal to the platform that that content is good. However, the current design incentivizes quantity over quality due to the focus on advertisements. From the application perspective, users end up having to pay to use alternative applications (such as Typefully), instead of the network paying for the applications.
Who are the initial creators that can avail of creator staking?
Creator staking is launching in beta for a few months, and we are onboarding a list of ten initial creators: The Kusamarian, Polkadot Insider, Alpha Airdrop, LV, 0xGoku, Cryptozilla, Pitcoin, Dotcast, Alice und Bob, and Frentube. We will be publishing a thread on X within the next few days showcasing these creators, so token holders can get to know their work and decide who they want to stake towards.
In the future, we anticipate that the registration process will become more open, or maybe become entirely permissionless, taking place through on-chain governance, where all token holders can vote on the creator registry list. In the meantime, if you are interested in applying to become a registered creator, you can fill out this form
