Leveraging Decentralized Oracles for Web3 Social Platforms

SEDA
5 min readMar 7, 2023

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Web3 social platforms have gained immense popularity due to their decentralized and peer-to-peer nature. Platforms like Lens Protocol, Mirror, Farcaster, Showtime, Ora, Nostr, and Mastodon have provided users with more control over their data and interactions. These platforms operate on a peer-to-peer network, enabling users to participate in global networks without the need for intermediaries.

As the web3 ecosystem continues to expand, social platforms have emerged as a key component of the decentralized web. However, these platforms face unique challenges when it comes to reputation tracking, identity verification, content moderation, and analytics. These challenges can be addressed by leveraging decentralized oracle networks like SEDA. Let’s explore some of the use cases oracles can bring to these platforms.

Cross-chain and off-chain to on-chain reputation systems

Social platforms often use reputation systems to help moderate content and identify trustworthy users. Reputation systems help moderate content and identify trustworthy users, but they are often limited to a single blockchain network. However, with the help of an oracle network like SEDA, these reputation systems can be extended to other blockchain networks, allowing for cross-platform reputation tracking and verification.

For example, a user’s reputation on one web3 social platform could be used to establish their reputation on another platform, even if the platforms are built on different blockchain networks. This would provide users with more control over their online identity and increase trust between different platforms.

In addition to cross-chain reputation systems, oracles can also help provide more accurate and reliable data for reputation systems by aggregating data from multiple sources to create a web3 data graph, owned entirely by the user. This can help mitigate the risk of fake accounts and provide a more accurate picture of a user’s online reputation.

Furthermore, oracles can also help integrate off-chain reputation data onto the blockchain. Off-chain reputation data can come from sources such as social media profiles or previous online transactions. This data can be verified and added to the blockchain using oracles, providing a more complete and accurate picture of a user’s online reputation.

For example, an e-commerce site could unlock exclusive content for its most loyal customers based on their purchase history. If a user buys at least 5 products, this could qualify them for special groups and rewards on-chain. This strategy engages dedicated shoppers further by offering “side quests” and allows brands to recognize their biggest fans.

Identity verification

Identity verification is a critical challenge for web3 social platforms, especially those that prioritize user privacy and security. Traditional social platforms often rely on centralized identity verification systems, which can be vulnerable to data breaches and hacks. Oracles, on the other hand, offer a decentralized solution to identity verification. Using Zero Knowledge Proofs, a web3 protocol could verify that an address has the identity rights to access a feature without revealing the underlying information. This privacy and verification method can help protect user data and improve the user experience while shielding users from web2 data collection practices.

By leveraging oracles, web3 social platforms can verify user identities across different platforms using a variety of identity verification systems. One popular approach is self-sovereign identity, which allows users to own and control their own identity data without relying on a third party. With oracles, self-sovereign identity can be used across multiple platforms, providing a seamless user experience while maintaining data privacy and security.

In addition to self-sovereign identity, oracles can also leverage government-issued IDs or biometric data to verify user identities. For example, a web3 social platform could use an oracle to verify a user’s government-issued ID or biometric data, ensuring that the user is who they claim to be without having to store sensitive personal data on the platform.

Oracles can also help ensure that user data is kept private and secure during the verification process. By using cryptographic protocols and secure communication channels, oracles can protect user data from hackers and unauthorized access. This can help build trust among users and enhance the reputation of web3 social platforms.

Decentralized content moderation

Social platforms often struggle with content moderation, with centralized systems prone to censorship and bias. Oracles can create decentralized content moderation systems that rely on community-driven consensus to identify and remove inappropriate content. This can ensure that moderation is fair and transparent, while also preventing censorship and promoting free speech.

Decentralized content moderation using oracles works by incentivizing a network of independent validators to review and flag inappropriate content. These validators can be community members, content creators, or other stakeholders in the platform. Validators are rewarded for their work with tokens or other incentives, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem that is more resistant to censorship and manipulation.

Content moderation on social platforms can lead to opinion bias and echo chambers. Users who go against the narrative or views of the platform may be banned, further reinforcing opinion bias. By using open content moderation systems, community members and stakeholders can see exactly what content is being removed and why. This can enable fairer moderation and decrease opinion bias.

Decentralized content moderation using oracles can also promote free speech and protect user privacy. By decentralizing the moderation process, platforms can prevent a single entity from having too much control over what content is allowed on the platform.

On-chain analytics

Oracles can collect and analyze data on-chain, building mechanisms that scale with certain engagement metrics and performing actions on-chain. This enables web3 social platforms to track and analyze engagement data in real time, allowing them to optimize their user experience and incentivize valuable contributions from users.

Moreover, oracles can track the activity of users on-chain, such as the number of transactions they make, the tokens they hold, and the smart contracts they interact with. This data can be used to create personalized recommendations for users, such as suggesting relevant content or connecting them with like-minded individuals.

By leveraging oracles, web3 social platforms can create more transparent, decentralized, and secure environments for users to connect, share information, and participate in global networks. Oracles can help ensure fair and transparent content moderation, promote free speech, and protect user privacy while also providing a seamless user experience across platforms. The possibilities are endless, and we can expect to see even more innovation in this space in the coming years.

About SEDA

SEDA is a multichain, permissionless protocol connecting real-world data to any network on-chain.

SEDA is backed by world-class investors such as Distributed Global, Coinbase Ventures, Reciprocal Ventures, Coinfund, Maven 11, Flow Ventures, among others.

Join SEDA’s community:

Telegram: https://t.me/sedaprotocol
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/wsNwx2N75B
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sedaprotocol

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SEDA

SEDA is a modular data layer that allows any blockchain to configure & interact with custom data feeds for price data, RPC data, or any available API endpoint.