Nuance is the world’s first truly decentralized content publishing platform
Built on the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) blockchain, Nuance is the world’s first truly decentralized content publishing platform, where anyone can quickly spin up a blog, novel, magazine, news service, or community forum. Nuance’s slogan, “Blogging to the people,” not only captures the essence of the platform’s mission but also signifies a significant departure from the traditional approach to content creation. The founder of Nuance, Nick O’Neill, envisions a new era of online publishing where individuals “have the power to share their ideas and perspectives with the world, without having to worry about unfair gatekeeping by established media companies.” By placing control back into the hands of creators, Nuance is helping to democratize the world of blogging and content creation, paving the way for a more diverse and inclusive media landscape. “By taking out the middle man, our writers stand a chance to be the best-paid content creators on the internet,” states O’Neil.
Nuance is powered by ICP technology, meaning that it operates in a fully decentralized manner — users retain complete control over their content; they can express their thoughts without fear of censorship or suppression. No governmental or corporate forces have the means to quell the platform’s free speech. This has led to a recent swell of international writers probing the possibilities of Nuance, eager to publish their perspectives on a diverse range of topics.
The flagship publication of Nuance is FastBlocks, a news portal that has gained significant attention in the ICP community since its launch in July 2022. With an extensive range of Web3-based coverage, FastBlocks has established itself as a reliable “alternative” source for blockchain and crypto-related news.
Web3 news — fully decentralized
FastBlocks represents a critical departure from the traditional Web2 status quo, where a select few media outlets exert significant control over a specific news narrative to please advertisers and secure political leverage. In contrast, FastBlocks’ writers do not shy away from expressing their honest opinions on a diverse range of Web3 subjects, challenging the conventional media discourse when they see fit.
Currently, FastBlocks is brainstorming its long-term strategic direction. The project’s founders are actively exploring the possibility of transitioning towards a DAO-led governance structure, thereby granting the community greater agency in the publication’s decision-making process. Regardless of FastBlocks’ future trajectory, DAOs are poised to assume a pivotal role in shaping the future of Nuance.
DAOs — Shaping the Future of Nuance
The Nuance dApp is positioning itself to become a DAO on the Internet Computer Protocol’s Service Network System (SNS), where DAO members will be able to directly (and democratically) participate in the governance of the Nuance dApp. This will result in Nuance being owned and operated by its reading and writing community. Entrusting the determination of operations and content to a DAO greatly helps to counteract the dissemination of fake news or intentionally misleading information. Utilizing the SNS framework, all DAO members will have a say in shaping Nuance into the most trusted platform for long-form content.
Adoption of the SNS will facilitate complete transparency across all of Nuance’s operations, with each DAO proposal (and subsequent outcome) meticulously documented — completely transparent to the public. This will ultimately enable Nuance readers to maintain a high level of trust in the platform, and in its writers.
No more worrying about censorship
Several Web2 publication creation platforms modify their policies without consulting their writers or readers, adversely impacting creators who have spent years building their audience. However, such situations cannot occur on Nuance because the platform’s strategic direction is solely determined by its community. A stable and secure space is guaranteed for writers. All changes to the platform require community approval, providing content creators with the assurance that their work will not be compromised without warning. In short, the community-driven approach of Nuance prevents content creators from being blindsided by sudden shifts in policy.
Nuance’s moderation process is also decentralized, accomplished through its collaboration with MODCLUB, which offers a customized range of human verification and content moderation services that are resistant to bots and automated attacks. By harnessing the power of its global community, MODCLUB makes sure dApps such as Nuance stay safe and welcoming, without the issues of centralized moderation, which often lead to “shoot first ask questions later” forms of censorship.
Applause, Reputation, and Monetization
Nuance will soon introduce a range of monetization options for writers. Wordslingers will finally gain a chance to be paid fairly for their creations.
In a similar vein to how DeFi has disrupted traditional finance by removing intermediaries, Nuance is seeking to revolutionize the publishing industry by eliminating the need for meddlesome middlemen. By publishing articles on Nuance, users gracefully sidestep the Web2 social media leviathans: no longer will they have to endure feeding the Zuckernaut or paying the “Elon tax.” Writers will have the option to mint their works as NFTs, ushering in a new frontier of gamification and monetization. NFTs enable articles to be minted with proof of ownership (“who owns the article?”) and proof of originality (“who wrote this article?”). Additionally, NFTs can provide gated access to a writer’s work, allowing fans to subscribe to their content through an NFT paywall.
Along with the ability to sell NFTs of their work, writers will be able to earn tips (micropayments) by getting “applause”, which will be paid out in utility tokens. Users will tip authors by using an applause button, found at the bottom of every article, which will transfer tokens from the reader to the author.
The applause button on Nuance has another crucial function: it bestows a reputation score upon the platform’s authors. By tagging their article with relevant topics such as #blockchain, writers can earn a reputation score within a corresponding topic. This reputation can grow over time, cementing the author’s position as an expert on a subject. Having crowd-sourced expertise metric serves to combat the spread of false information and curb the flow of scammy/spammy editorializing, ensuring the integrity of the platform’s content. O’Neil elaborates, “On nuance, you have to put your money where your mouth is. You can’t just upvote or give claps for free. This incentivizes good applause behavior and stops bots in their tracks.
Blogging to the People!
The Conversation Never Ends
With the implementation of an SNS-based DAO, writers on Nuance will be largely immune from the risks that continue to plague Web2 publishing outlets. The decentralized nature of the Nuance DAO will prevent abrupt changes to the platform and ensure freedom from censorship, allowing writers to express their ideas and opinions with confidence — with the potential to be tipped handsomely for it. In turn, Nuance’s readers will benefit from a platform that lets them directly support and connect to the writers they love.
By William Laurent
Widely published in the areas of business, Web3, and crypto/blockchain tech, William hosts DFINITY's weekly Crypto is Community and Web3 in :53 Twitter Spaces.