Short videos shown to users in an unending feed have quickly become the preferred way to use social media.
Swipe up. Watch. Swipe up. Watch. Repeat for hours.
People have been entertained by short videos for years. Remember Vine? Vine came out in 2012 and was quickly acquired by Twitter. Three years later, Vine had over 200 million active users. However, Vine would not last. The site was officially archived in 2022.
Vine was ahead of its time, a shooting star. Until TikTok hit the scene.
The explosion in popularity of TikTok is astounding.
TikTok hit the worldwide market in 2018. By 2021, it was ranked the number one website by Cloudfare. TikTok beat Google in traffic ratings. More recently, Facebook even announced that they would adopt a TikTok-like algorithm.
TikTok is a Chinese company; many have cautioned about using the platform. The site, while wildly popular, has come under scrutiny for various reasons; the top ones are user privacy, misinformation, and criticism about the site being addictive.
It’s also a Web2 company, so users are handing over their creative work for free. Videos rack up millions of views, but it takes a lot of work before creators get sponsors.
Hot or Not seeks to change that.
Hot or Not
Hot or Not is a short video social media platform built on blockchain technology. The creators have combined a proven social media powerhouse with monetization opportunities and developed their dApp using the ICP (Internet Computer Protocol) blockchain. The best part? Users and content creators own the videos they upload.
Users can earn rewards for creating content, engaging with it, or sharing it. The platform is in alpha testing but will eventually include an in-app game called “Hot or Not.” Users will be able to speculate on the virality of the videos and earn tokens, COYN.
Users can stake their COYN tokens on either “Hot” or “Not” video outcomes. If the user stakes their token on the side of the majority, they win and earn double their tokens back. If the user stakes their tokens on the minority side, they lose all the tokens staked on that video. It’s like TikTok, where users can gamble on the virality of the videos. What’s better? Ten percent of all tokens staked go to the video’s creator, regardless of the outcome.
Hot or Not seeks to build a social media platform that rewards its consumers instead of advertisers. TikTok is overloaded with ads.
This new social, decentralized platform is currently only available in English but will roll out more languages soon. Now, users can upload 60-second videos or shoot them in-app. Filters are available in the in-app camera automatically. Extra features will be included shortly, like editing, adding text, a sound library, and stickers. There is no limit to adding videos to the platform, but take note: once a video is uploaded, it cannot be deleted from the platform.
Hot or Not will also enable the functionality of their own NFT, the GobGob NFT. The holders of these NFTs will receive royalties every time the NFT is used on the platform. This feature will be available soon.
Will Hot or Not Rival TikTok?
With Hot or Not still early in development, it’s too early to tell. However, the founders have a winning combination on their hands.
The world is still fawning over TikTok’s algorithm and meteoric rise. Every social media company on earth is studying it and trying to emulate it.
Hot or Not is taking the best parts of TikTok and leaving the crummy ones. They’re providing ownership to their users and creating a way for everyone to monetize their time on the app, even if they don’t upload their own videos.
Watch videos, bet on them, create a community, earn money, and be entertained.
Once people discover this new Web3 way to socialize, they will unlikely return to Web2.
About Kit
Kit Campoy is a former retail professional turned freelance writer. She writes about Leadership, Retail, and Web3. Contact Kit for your content needs.