Content creators fed up with YouTube now have a compelling alternative

Video is fast becoming the main medium of communication on the internet, with research suggesting that the typical consumer watches more than 10 hours a week.

But whether it’s a four-second meme on TikTok, a four-minute prank on Facebook or a four-hour livestream on YouTube, there’s one big problem: Content creators have to work on the terms of centralized tech giants.

Now, a decentralized video platform is aiming to shake things up — ensuring that revenue that’s generated through advertising goes to the people who upload videos, and the process of policing content is left to the community.

Pocketnet’s blockchain is run by equal nodes, in a way that’s not dissimilar to how cryptocurrencies operate. Transactions enable users to post content, cast a vote about a video’s quality, promote clips and subscribe to their favorite creators. This approach — which the company will highlight in a series of exclusive livestreamed events called “Take Back the Internet” that can be signed up for here throughout  June — helps create a reputation-based system where the best uploads generate the highest rewards.

In an unusual twist that sets Pocketnet apart from other video-sharing platforms, users make a minimal payment in PKOIN, the ecosystem’s native cryptocurrency, that covers hosting for six months. After this period, clips that don’t meet the minimum popularity bar are deleted unless additional coins are paid for hosting.

Three key problems to solve

Pocketnet’s goal is to ensure that those powering decentralized servers are compensated for their efforts — eliminating a free public resource that can be abused by others. Its approach helps to open up vast computing capacity without relying on the likes of Amazon Web Services.

The Pocketnet blockchain serves as a consensus layer on the platform, and servers are incentivized to provide a high level of service to streamers. Failing to act in the best interests of the network can result in their reputation being lost, along with other penalties.

“Big tech companies have lost the trust of the people — they grab too much money and power and leave nothing for the users,” the project told Cointelegraph. “The invention of Bitcoin changed the playing field in both the internet and finance forever. Pocketnet is making sure that we use Satoshi’s concept to the fullest to open the floodgates for the decentralized internet.”

Watch out, YouTube

Over the past 12 months, Pocketnet came out of beta — and launched a fully decentralized social network with no central servers whatsoever, meaning its infrastructure is solely supported by crypto nodes.

Looking ahead, the team wants to take on the likes of WhatsApp by releasing a peer-to-peer encrypted messaging service that will serve as a “truly private and decentralized alternative to the likes of WhatsApp.” This is due to be released in the second half of June.

Developers are also working on a NFT 3.0 project that will pave the way for a more innovative approach to auctioning non-fungible tokens. Its infrastructure will ensure that only a preview of the artwork in an NFT is available during the sales process, meaning the winner gets an encrypted copy of the full work and a key to decrypt the NFT. This release is due to take place in July.

Other events in June include exclusive live events for cryptocurrency buffs with limited space called “Take Back The Internet.” A total of four live sessions are planned for June 10, June 17, June 24, and June 29.

These broadcasts will give viewers the chance to learn more about how the Pocketnet blockchain works, and speakers will include core developers and a few surprise guests. Adding to the exclusivity, no full recordings will be available from the closed-door event. Those who are interested in these events can register on the Pocketnet website.