FAQ

Q: How does is this ranking model different from the alternatives (like prediction markets, token-based voting systems etc).

The fundamental assumption we make is that it's impossible to assign an objective ranking to a piece of information.

Ranking will always depend on many subjective factors such as context, previous knowledge and attitudes of the viewers.

Some approaches try to solve the ranking problem using market mechanisms and voting with scarce value tokens.

In our approach, the only objective component is the proof-of-publishing of users' action on the blockchain. Anyone can verify that a specific action was announced at a certain moment in time. The meaning of this action its subsequent ranking is decided on the subjective layer.

It's easy for participants to announce their actions but hard to get them noticed due to heavy filtering by the market.

Filtering mechanisms are moved to the subjective layer and are governed by the attention market. Multiple roles emerge in the system - creators, moderators, frontend creators.

These roles operate on the same objective history of events, as published on the blockchain, but each role contributes a different view on these events.

At any given time the system has one objective state, but multiple number of subjective views on this state.

Q: How do you eliminate spammers, Sybil attacks and other abuses of the protocol?

The protocol doesn't have any spam filtering mechanisms. The protocol just time stamps users actions on the blockchain. So any spamming attempt is recorded for others to evaluate.

Some applications might decided to only trust a predefined set of moderators, others might adopt an algorithmic approach. Ranking mechanisms might evolve over time.

In any case, users contributions are separated from evaluation of these contributions.

Q: What incentives users have to participate early?

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have a built-in mechanism for rewarding early adopters of the system. As the price of the currency grows, the ones who bought in early are rewarded with increase value of their investments.

In the proposed model, if the popularity of the system grows it will attract more attention. This attention won't be equally distributed though. Users with longer chain of reputation and valuable history of contributions will be also more visible at least in some category of applications.

Because user actions can be incentivised with money, there will be plenty of opportunities to monetise their visibility. In other words, converting their attention capital to money.

New entrants to the system (whether new users, apps, interfaces etc) will be inclined to us

This is exactly the same model that works today with advertising and celebrity endorsements. However, here it's directly built into the system.

Example:

Kim Kardashian receives a bid in her 'Decentralised Instagram' that an X amount of bitcoins will be transferred to her if she posts a photo Y. Smart contract has escrowed the bitcoins already. If Kim posts a photo Y, smart contract verifies the post and releases the money.

The same mechanism works today in the celebrity marketing industry. However, due to high transaction costs such deals are only limited to high value deals with popular personalities with large following.

In our model, such transactions can be low value, automatic and instant. No direct relationship is necessary between the parties. Smart contracts ensure there's no counterparty risk and money is transferred only when the promise is fulfilled.