Minds (social network)
Type of business | Private |
---|---|
Type of site | Social network service |
Headquarters | Wilton, Connecticut |
Key people | Bill Ottman, Founder & CEO John Ottman, Co-Founder & Chairman Mark Harding, Co-Founder & CTO |
Industry | Internet |
Employees | 11-50 |
URL | www |
Registration | Required to post, follow, or be followed; Anonymous registration allowed |
Users | 1.25+ million registered (August 2018)[1][2][3] |
Launched | 2015 |
Minds is an open source and distributed social networking service, integrating the blockchain to reward the community with ERC-20 tokens for various contributions to the network.[5] Users can use their tokens to promote their content or to crowdfund and tip other users by subscribing to them monthly in exchange for 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 occurring on many proprietary social networks.[6]
History
Minds was founded in February 2011 by Bill Ottman as an alternative to top global networks abusing digital rights. It was co-founded by John Ottman, Mark Harding, Ian Crossland, and Jack Ottman.
In June 2017, the company raised over $1 million in the fastest equity-crowdfunded sale of all time.[7]
In March 2018, Minds exited Beta and launched a white paper and testnet for its new native mobile apps and Ethereum integration.
Technology
Features include news feed, video, images, blogs, groups, search, encrypted messenger, cryptocurrency wallets, exclusive content paywalls, promoted posts, tipping, and a token reward system. Minds maintains cross-platform functionality with both web and mobile apps.
Frameworks, software, programming languages, and other technologies utilized in the platform include Apache Cassandra, React Native, AngularJS, PHP, Nginx, Elasticsearch, Ethereum, OpenZeppelin, Truffle, NativeScript, MetaMask Ubuntu Server, Redis, MongoDB, DroneCI, RabbitMQ, ZeroMQ, Linux, Vagrant, Docker, NodeJS, Gulp, TypeScript, OpenSSL, Socket.io, and NPM.
In the media
Minds has been featured by Forbes, Business Insider and VentureBeat for its tools to combat the decline of organic reach through algorithm changes on Facebook, Google, and other major sites.[8][9]
When the network launched its Alpha mobile applications in 2015, the global decentralized hacktivist collective Anonymous showed initial support for privacy features.[10][11] Some have since expressed concern that other fringe groups could undermine the platform's ability to deliver accurate and curated content.[12]
The Observer, Barron’s, and Breitbart discussed the network’s dedication to free speech and community-participation.[13][14]
Cointelegraph, Cryptobriefing, Bitcoin Magazine and Hacked have covered Minds for its digital currency ecosystem.[15][16][17]
On June 5, 2018 CBS Interactive, ZDNet's published an article about Minds, with focus on Minds blockchain integration.[5]
See also
References
- ^ https://cdn-assets.minds.com/front/dist/assets/documents/Overview-6thAugust2018.pdf
- ^ Brown, Eileen. "Facebook competitor promises blockchain currency for social content creators - ZDNet".
- ^ https://cdn-assets.minds.com/front/dist/assets/whitepapers/03_27_18_Minds%20Whitepaper%20V0.1.pdf
- ^ "Minds.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
- ^ a b Brown, Eileen (July 5, 2018). "Facebook competitor promises blockchain currency for social content creators". ZDNet. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
- ^ Carlson, Tucker (February 21, 2018). "Social media network CEO: How Google censors my company". FOX News. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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(help) - ^ Lang, Melissa (July 17, 2017). "Done with Facebook, Twitter? User-owned social networks hear you". SF Chronicle. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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(help) - ^ Guerrini, Federico (June 15, 2015). "Struggling With Facebook Organic Reach Decline? Try This New Open Source Social Networking App". Forbes. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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(help) - ^ Levine, Barry (June 15, 2015). "A social network called Minds has an answer to Facebook's strangling of organic posts". VentureBeat. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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(help) - ^ Guthrie Weissman, Cale (June 15, 2015). "Anonymous is supporting a new privacy-focused social network that takes aim at Facebook's shady practices". Business Insider. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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(help) - ^ Griffin, Andrew (June 15, 2015). "Super-private social network launched to take on Facebook with support of Anonymous". Independent. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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(help) - ^ "I believe in free speech, but Minds makes me queasy". Engadget. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
- ^ Sainato, Michael (May 12, 2017). "Meet Facebook's New Open-Sourced, Encrypted Competitor, Minds". Observer. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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(help) - ^ Swartz, Jon (February 12, 2018). "Facebook Haters Going to Hate – but What Will Investors Do?". Barron's. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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(help) - ^ Smart, Evander (June 22, 2015). "Welcome to Minds: Like Facebook But without the Snooping". CoinTelegraph. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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(help) - ^ Madore, P.H. (October 19, 2017). "Minds.Com Founder Bill Ottman On Minds Wire". Crypto Briefing. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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(help) - ^ Madore, P.H. (July 19, 2015). "Minds.com Redefines Social Capital". Hacked. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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