YouTube is one of the most popular websites of all time. According to Alexa statistics, it is #2 globally in terms of audience engagement. Users spend an average of 18:28 on the website daily. But not everyone is a YouTube fan, and among those who are, many of them do not post their videos to YouTube alone. Two up-and-coming video sharing sites promise to pay users in cryptocurrency for uploading and engaging with videos.
What is YouNow?
The PROPS Project is notable for a few good reasons. First, it hosts one of the best YouTube alternatives I’ve seen. Secondly, it serves as an ecosystem of next-generation loyalty programs. The whitepaper refers to it as a “tokenized digital media economy.”
What’s interesting about the PROPS Project is that it is a sidechain of the Ethereum blockchain. That gives users the ability to interact on the Ethereum blockchain from the PROPS Network, which is an open-source network allowing developers the ability to build apps on the blockchain. The first app built was YouNow, the PROPS alternative to YouTube.
YouNow allows users to upload their videos, engage with the videos of others, and video chat with each other through the app.
Users earn PROPS tokens by creating digital content through the network apps and interacting with others’ content. PROPS tokens allow users to upvote and recommend content created by other users. Users can also tip each other through the network protocol. Tokens allow users to transfer their reputation from one PROPS app to another on the network. Network validators can stake their tokens and earn additional rewards.
YouNow allows users to monetize their own content.
Among the platform’s many investors is Philip DeFranco, host of the popular YouTube channel The Philip DeFranco Show, which has 6.33 million subscribers. In 2016, YouTube received a backlash of complaints from several high-profile vloggers, including DeFranco, when it instituted a demonetization program on videos with what advertisers considered objectionable content. Many YouTubers left the platform over it. DeFranco stayed, but he objected to the policy. That’s when he took an interest in the PROPS Project.
YouNow users spend an average of 11:33 on the website daily. For obvious reasons, DeFranco isn’t as popular on YouNow as he is on YouTube, but he does have over 100,000 fans, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at. YouNow rewards users with achievements as they earn tokens for their actions on the platform.
What is LBRY/Odysee?
LBRY/Odysee is another YouTube alternative, but it’s a bit more. They call themselves a “digital content” ecosystem. While their specs say books, movies, music, and other digital content, it’s mostly videos.
LBRY started as a downloadable desktop app, but the app has been discontinued. Its web-based video sharing platform was LBRY.tv until Odysee rolled out last year. Fully supported, Odysee is the browser-based video sharing platform today.
One of the unique aspects of LBRY/Odysee is that YouTubers can sync their YouTube content to LBRY/Odysee automatically. By publishing to LBRY/Odysee, creators can earn the LBRY cryptocurrency, LBC, when users view their content. What’s more, users can post to LBRY/Odysee first and receive more rewards for doing so even while their LBRY content is posted to YouTube directly from LBRY/Odysee. That’s a nice incentive, but it’s safe to say that most content creators will get more views on YouTube.
Something else I think is interesting is that LBRY calls itself a decentralized protocol with a centralized organization. In other words, its technology is decentralized, but it’s under the control of a centralized community-owned non-profit organization.
LBRY is built on its own blockchain. Users spend an average of 6:29 on the website daily, though Odysee.com is ranked much higher in Alexa’s rankings than YouNow.
A search for Philip DeFranco at Odysee.com shows mostly criticism of DeFranco. There was one profile for the YouTube celebrity, but it’s likely a fake account as it has only one upload and a generic avatar as opposed to DeFranco’s image that you see on all of his other social accounts.
YouNow or Odysee: Which Will Kill YouTube?
Personally, I don’t see YouTube being defeated any time soon. However, there is clearly a market for decentralized video sharing that allows video content creators the ability to earn cryptocurrencies for their content. Both YouNow (Props Project) and LBRY/Odysee have their pros and cons.
LBRY/Odysee has the advantage where syncing a content creator’s YouTube channel is concerned. I also think the platform is slightly more attractive.
YouNow has the advantage of at least one YouTube star endorsing it. Philip DeFranco has been a longtime supporter of bitcoin and ether, which might be why he endorses the PROPS Project since it is an Ethereum project. The fact that YouNow and PROPS is a sidechain of Ethereum is also a big plus. That means tokens can be more easily swapped with other ERC-20 tokens, a big plus if you do a lot of trading.
Having its own blockchain is not necessarily an advantage for LBRY/Odysee since it also means the tech team is responsible for maintaining and updating both the blockchain software and the platform. Being in control of the blockchain means some development time must be spent keeping the blockchain updated, which will take away from time spent maintaining the platform. On the other hand, if the value of LBRY can gain traction, that would be a long-term advantage.
Of course, PROPS Project being a sidechain of Ethereum means developers are also maintaining a blockchain. However, YouNow is an application on top of the blockchain. That could make a world of difference in development time.
LBRY’s token is ranked #405 in market cap at CoinMarketCap while PROPS is ranked #773.
DISCLAIMER
I am not a financial advisor, nor do I give financial advice. The above information should not be considered financial advice but is for informational purposes only. Neither I nor Cryptowriter are responsible for financial losses incurred as a result of acting on this information. Please consult a financial advisor before making any financial decisions.
This post is published for Cryptowriter in association with Voice.
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