Minds
Type of business | Private |
---|---|
Type of site | Social network service |
Headquarters | Wilton, Connecticut, US[1] |
Key people | Bill Ottman, Founder & CEO John Ottman, Co-Founder & Chairman Mark Harding, Co-Founder & CTO |
Industry | Internet |
Employees | 11-50 |
Alexa rank | 4.4k (Aug 2017[update])[2] |
Registration | Required to post, follow, or be followed; Anonymous registration allowed |
Users | 1.25+ million registered (August 2018)[3][4][5] 105,000 (active, March 2018)[6] |
Launched | June 2015 |
Stable release | |
---|---|
Operating system | iOS, Android |
Website | www |
Minds is an open source social media and social networking service company that rewards users for their contributions. Founded by Bill Ottman and Mark Harding in 2011, it is a distributed social networking service that rewards contributors with tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.[4]
Minds describes itself as a "Crypto Social Network" that upholds "internet freedom".[9]
History[edit]
Minds was co-founded in 2011 by Bill Ottman and Mark Harding as an alternative to social networks such as Facebook, who they believe abuse digital rights.[6] Other cofounders were John Ottman, Ian Crossland, and Jack Ottman.
Minds launched to the public in June 2015.[10]
In June 2017, the company raised over $1 million in a equity-crowdfunded sale.[11]
In October 2018, Minds raised $6 million in Series A funding from Medici Ventures, an Overstock.com subsidiary. Patrick M. Byrne, founder and CEO of Overstock.com, will join Minds’ board of directors.[12]
Features[edit]
Users can use tokens to advertise their content across the social network. Minds states that the boost system is designed to be "anti-surveillance" and has "organic reach". The price of one-thousand views is the price of one token on the network.[13]
Minds offers a premium subscription for 5 tokens per month that gives users access to exclusive content, the ability to become verified, and to "banish all the boosted posts" from their feed.[14]
Reception[edit]
Minds has been featured by Business Insider and VentureBeat, claiming to provide more "organic" results than Facebook.[15]
When the network launched its Alpha mobile applications in 2015, the group Anonymous showed initial support for privacy features.[16][17] Engadget has since expressed concern that other fringe groups could undermine the platform's ability to deliver accurate and curated content.[18]
Observer, Barron's, and Breitbart discussed the network's dedication to free speech and community-participation.[19][20]
On June 5, 2018, ZDNet published an article about Minds focusing on their blockchain integration.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ "Company Overview of Minds, Inc". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
- ^ "Minds.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
- ^ "Overview-6thAugust2018.pdf" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 11, 2018.
- ^ a b c Brown, Eileen (July 5, 2018). "Facebook competitor promises blockchain currency for social content creators". ZDNet. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
- ^ "Minds+Whitepaper+V0.1.pdf" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 10, 2018.
- ^ a b "Minds aims to decentralize the social network". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
- ^ "Apple on the App Store". iTunes Store. April 27, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
- ^ "Minds". Google Play Store. April 25, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
- ^ Cooper, Daniel (April 20, 2018). "I believe in free speech, but Minds makes me queasy". Engadget. Archived from the original on April 20, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
- ^ "Anonymous is building a site to kill Facebook". The Independent. June 17, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
- ^ Lang, Melissa (July 17, 2017). "Done with Facebook, Twitter? User-owned social networks hear you". SF Chronicle. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
- ^ Biggs, John (October 27, 2018). "Minds, the blockchain-based social network, grabs a $6M Series A". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
- ^ Sainato, Michael (May 12, 2017). "Meet Facebook's New Open-Sourced, Encrypted Competitor, Minds". Retrieved May 31, 2019.
- ^ Matsakis, Louise (April 19, 2018). "Minds is the anti-Facebook that Pays Users for Their Time". Text "https://www.wired.com/story/minds-anti-facebook/" ignored (help);
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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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Griffin, Andrew (June 15, 2015). "Super-private social network launched to take on Facebook with support of Anonymous". Independent. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Swartz, Jon (February 12, 2018). "Facebook Haters Going to Hate – but What Will Investors Do?". Barron's. Retrieved April 12, 2018.