As the CMO of HighKey Agency, Jordan Lintz is a social media veteran. However, for the past decade, he's also been focused on the intersection of social media, monetary systems, and decentralized infrastructure. Now, he says that the ownership layer of the internet is shifting, and decentralized social (DeSo) is at the center of that shift.
What's DeSo? Decentralized Social is an open-source blockchain built for social media. It aims to decentralize social media just like cryptocurrency helped decentralize financial systems.
"Right now, social media is even more centralized than the financial industry was before crypto," says Lintz. "A few private companies are shaping public discourse while profiting from user-created content."
"We're all stuck in a loop," he continues. "Social media users are effectively forced to use a handful of apps because those companies have a monopoly. So if creators want any reach at all, they have to give these companies their content."
To many content creators, it seems like that vicious cycle will continue with no end in sight. However, if DeSo succeeds, it could offer a way for social media users and creators to finally break free.
With an open-source blockchain, users and developers can build off of one another. Ultimately, the technology allows for the creation of a worldwide social network without corporate gatekeepers.
That kind of transformation might sound far-fetched, but it may be closer than many realize. Lintz says that the internet is at an inflection point, and DeSo can help users move into a new era.
"In Chris Dixon's book, 'Read Write Own,' the founder and managing partner of a16z crypto argues that the internet evolves in three phases," Lintz explains. "In the initial 'read' era, users primarily read content online, just like they did in the early days of the internet. Next is the 'read-write' era, where more users are creating content, but platforms, and primarily social media platforms, own it."
"Now, we're just beginning the 'read-write-own' era," he continues. "This is the blockchain era. Instead of platforms owning content and user data, internet users take control of their online identities. Then they can enjoy the upside that comes from it."
Lintz himself is a kind of bridge between eras. With industry innovator HighKey Agency, he has mastered the read-write era by building and scaling brands. Today, he's at the forefront of the emerging read-write-own era.
Lintz isn't the only one who sees decentralized social media as the future. He's spoken with Nader Al-Naji, who began working on DeSo in 2019 after previously building Basis, a project aimed at creating an algorithmic central bank to stabilize cryptocurrency. During that time, Nader collaborated with some of the leading minds in economics, many of whom have since gone on to personally invest in DeSo.
Kevin Warsh, the newly appointed Federal Reserve chair, is one of those thinkers. Nader's past fireside conversations with Warsh about the realities of centralized control feel more relevant now than ever before.
When DeSo founder Nader Al-Naji first announced the project, it brought in $200 million in a single funding round. DeSo stands out as one of the largest funding rounds in crypto history. What sets it apart exactly?
"DeSo is one of the very few projects trying to execute that third phase, the read-write-own era, at scale," Lintz says.
The company and its mission have come about in a critical time, too. "Creator dissatisfaction with social media platforms is at an all-time high, and the infrastructure for decentralized social media is finally catching up to user expectations," Lintz says.
Although social media users and content creators have valid complaints about today's social media giants, many understandably worry what a future without them would look like. Lintz is careful to note that DeSo isn't aiming to end social media as we know it.
"I don't see DeSo as a replacement for social media," he explains. "It's just the next foundational layer beneath it."
From the outside, it might seem easy to dismiss the read-write-own era as a mere what-if. But Lintz isn't just trying to predict the next trend cycle.
"Our monetary systems are already evolving beyond centralized control," he explains. "It's only logical that social media platforms, the platforms that shape our culture, will do that, too. The infrastructure is there. Creators are realizing that much of the revenue their content generates is going straight to social media companies. The internet is more than ready for a change."
DeSo isn't just about technological innovation. It's about empowering creators and freeing internet users from the stranglehold of major platforms.
"If DeSo succeeds, the next generation of creators is going to do more than just go viral," says Lintz. "They're going to own the social graph they build on."
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