Social Money

Social Money is a branded digital token that individual artists and creators can issue to their online communities. It allows creators to own, control, and coordinate the value that they create across media platforms. It’s kind of like a personal loyalty rewards program, but with added benefits (and risks) for both creators and consumers.

The problem for consumers in the Passion Economy is that there is no opportunity to own assets. Everything is still subscription-based. Given that readers and listeners act as marketing channel for creators, it makes sense for them to have some skin-in-the-game.

Owners of a creator’s social money will participate in the governance of that community. This is like polls on Patreon except creators have the ability to experiment with different voting structures (ie: one token one vote, in which those with the most skin in the game have the most voting power).

However, the Passion Economy has issues. First, platforms make constant updates that impact a creator’s earnings potential (ie: Instagram removing the “likes” metric). In addition, as social media platforms grapple with the complex challenges of censorship and free speech, there is real risk to creators of being de-platformed (ie: Zerohedge from Tw... See more

Social Money represents the financialization of the Passion Economy and builds a bridge to the broader “gaming” industry. Imagine how fantasy sports and sports betting will evolve when fans actually own a piece of their favorite NBA player’s contract?