Minds

Minds is a free and open source distributed social networking service that uses the blockchain to reward the community with ERC20 tokens. Users can use their tokens to promote their content or to crowdfund other users through monthly subscriptions to their exclusive content and services. [7]

For other uses, see Mind (disambiguation).

Minds
Type of businessPrivate
Type of site
Social network service
HeadquartersWilton, Connecticut, US[1]
Key peopleBill Ottman, Founder & CEO
John Ottman, Co-Founder & Chairman
Mark Harding, Co-Founder & CTO
IndustryInternet
Employees11–50
URLminds.com
Alexa rank 9,396 (Jul 2019)[2]
RegistrationRequired to post, follow, or be followed; Anonymous registration allowed
Users1.25+ million registered (August 2018, claimed)[3]
105,000 (active, March 2018)[4]
LaunchedJune 2015
Minds
Stable release
; iOS

3.4.0 (April 27, 2019 (2019-04-27)[5])

Android

3.4.0 (April 25, 2019 (2019-04-25)[6]) [±]

Operating systemiOS, Android
Websitewww.minds.com/ 

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.

Minds describes itself as a "Crypto Social Network" that upholds internet freedom.[8]

History

Minds was co-founded in 2011 by Bill Ottman and John Ottman as an alternative to social networks such as Facebook, who they believe abuse digital rights.[4] Other cofounders were Mark Harding, Ian Crossland, and Jack Ottman.

Minds launched to the public in June 2015.[9]

In June 2017, the company raised over $1 million in the fastest equity-crowdfunded sale up to that time.[10]

In March 2018, Minds exited Beta and launched a white paper and testnet for its new native mobile apps and Ethereum integration.

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.[11]

Technology

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.[12]

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.[13]

Frameworks utilized in the platform include Apache Cassandra, React Native, AngularJS, PHP, Nginx, Elasticsearch, Ethereum, OpenZeppelin, Truffle, NativeScript, MetaMask, Redis, MongoDB, DroneCI, RabbitMQ, ZeroMQ, Vagrant, Docker, NodeJS, Gulp, Typescript, OpenSSL, Socket.io and NPM.

Reception

Minds has been featured by Business Insider and VentureBeat, claiming to provide more "organic" results than Facebook.[14]

When the network launched its Alpha mobile applications in 2015, the group Anonymous showed initial support for privacy features.[15][16] Engadget has since expressed concern that other fringe groups could undermine the platform's ability to deliver accurate and curated content.[17]

Observer, Barron's, and Breitbart discussed the network's dedication to free speech and community-participation.[18][19]

The social network has attracted criticism for purportedly being a "haven" for neo-Nazis and far-right groups and individuals.[20][21] In response to the allegations, the site banned several accounts associated with neo-Nazism.[20]

References
  1. "Company Overview of Minds, Inc". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  2. "Minds.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  3. "Overview-6thAugust2018.pdf" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 11, 2018.
  4. "Minds aims to decentralize the social network". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  5. "Apple on the App Store". iTunes Store. April 27, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  6. "Minds". Google Play Store. April 25, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  7. Brown, Eileen (July 5, 2018). "Facebook competitor promises blockchain currency for social content creators". ZDNet. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  8. 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.
  9. "Anonymous is building a site to kill Facebook". The Independent. June 17, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  10. Lang, Melissa (July 17, 2017). "Done with Facebook, Twitter? User-owned social networks hear you". SF Chronicle. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  11. Biggs, John (October 27, 2018). "Minds, the blockchain-based social network, grabs a $6M Series A". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  12. Sainato, Michael (May 12, 2017). "Meet Facebook's New Open-Sourced, Encrypted Competitor, Minds". Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  13. Matsakis, Louise (April 19, 2018). "Minds is the anti-Facebook that Pays Users for Their Time". Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. Griffin, Andrew (June 15, 2015). "Super-private social network launched to take on Facebook with support of Anonymous". Independent. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  17. "I believe in free speech, but Minds makes me queasy". Engadget. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  18. Sainato, Michael (May 12, 2017). "Meet Facebook's New Open-Sourced, Encrypted Competitor, Minds". Observer. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  19. Swartz, Jon (February 12, 2018). "Facebook Haters Going to Hate – but What Will Investors Do?". Barron's. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  20. Makuch, Ben; Pearson, Jordan (May 28, 2019). "Minds, the 'Anti-Facebook,' Has No Idea What to Do About All the Neo-Nazis". Vice.
  21. Cooper, Daniel (April 20, 2018). "I believe in free speech, but Minds makes me queasy". Engadget.
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