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Twitter alternative Twetch now lets you tip commentators and force trolls to pay

Stop your social media account being trolled and make your tormentors pay for their actions against you with this new feature from Twetch.
Written by Eileen Brown, Contributor

Blockchain-based social media platform Twetch has introduced some nice features to its social platform that gives its users more control over the content they see in their feed.

Twetch is a platform built for the blockchain -- where users pay a couple of cents to post messages and are rewarded in Bitcoin if someone likes or reposts (branches) their content. A small amount is retained by the platform from each transaction. Users can view activity on each post to see how much has been earned for each post they make to Twetch, which is now in a public beta.

The platform has tightened up its UI since earlier iterations. It's strongly reminiscent of Twitter, with a similar look and feel. A new feature -- the leaderboard -- lists users who are active across Twetch so you can find and follow interesting users of the platform.

Twetch CEO Josh Petty said: "Twetch leaderboard is based on the amount spent and earned within 24 hours. There has been an explosion of creative art and meme work on Twetch. Users are profiting from creating and we want to be able to spotlight top earners and spenders. Think of Twetch as a stock market for memes."

Profile details are visible in addition to follower/following count. Users' numeric aliases are also shown -- indicating how early they joined the platform. Users can also buy an alias that is more relevant to them.

Recently Twetch has introduced a few features, which encourage people to reward good quality content by paying a cash amount to a specific user.

Twitter competitor Twetch now lets you tip top commentators and force trolls to pay zdnet
Eileen Brown

Using the command /pay @userhandle $5 (or similar amount' users can transfer varying amounts of cash into, in this example, @userhandle's Bitcoin account on Twetch.

You can use this feature when posting, too. The cash is stored in the user's Moneybutton wallet, which can be spent at any outlet that accepts Bitcoin SV.

One user account has received $220.21 for one meme posted on Twetch.

This peer-to-peer payment method seems to work well. Users can control which posters on the platform are tipped for their good content in addition to sharing or liking their posts.

Twitter competitor Twetch now lets you tip top commentators and force trolls to pay zdnet
Twetch

Users can also decide how to manage any trolls or spammers they have.

The command /trolltoll set @userhandle $5.50 will cost that particular user $5.50 every time @userhandle comments on one of your posts.

The command /trolltoll remove @userhandle will return payments to normal system fees.

When you post something on Twetch, the post goes onto the immutable blockchain.

You own that data forever. If someone likes, or shares your post, or follows you, then you have monetized your content. Twetch is also ad-free.

Twetch has also introduced the ability to pay to post without manual swiping to authorize the transaction payment. This frictionless payment is new for Bitcoin and is intended to make it seamless for users to interact and earn money.

Petty said at the Coingeek conference in February 2020, that the Twetch platform does not have to control your data for it to make money.

Its goals are to get more people onto the blockchain and using Bitcoin, to reward users for their work and eliminate spammers and trolls.

It is certainly early days for Twetch, which has signed up over 11,000 users to the platform. It has opened up the Twetch SDK for users to create games, chatbots, archiving, scheduling, or even competing apps for Bitcoin.

Twitter competitor Twetch now lets you tip top commentators and force trolls to pay zdnet
Twetch

It looks like the option to pay people you respect using the /pay instruction and charging trolls for engaging with the /trolltoll command will ensure that the people you really want to engage with are the only ones who can connect with you.

One day, every social platform might give control to its users as Twetch has done. But as long as the platforms make ad revenue from user posts, they will be reluctant to hand that level of power over to the very people who made it successful.

Disclosure: I have an account on Twetch, which has earned under $10 from the posts I have made on the platform. I use these earnings to pay to post and like other posts. I have never purchased or traded any type of Bitcoin.

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