Public relations has always had a challenge managing the dizzying pace of the news cycle. However, viral social media news’s explosive nature and subsequent reactions added a whole new element for PR professionals to navigate.
Now that we’ve mastered traditional platforms, the new kid on the block—decentralized media—is turning the corner.
What exactly are these new, decentralized platforms? How are people using them, and how can you engage with them?
Adapting to change is the name of the game in our industry, and we’re here to demystify the brave new world of decentralized media.
Let’s start by getting the basics down.
What is decentralized media?
In simple terms, decentralized media is information distributed across a network of individual devices instead of one massive entity (usually a government or colossal tech company).
Blockchain technology makes this possible. You’ve probably heard about blockchain technology in relation to cryptocurrency. But what it means in the context of decentralized media is the secure transfer of data across a network of computers. The ability to update the blockchain is shared among all network participants.
The idea is the data is community-owned and moderated, theoretically allowing for greater transparency and communal control over data and transactions.
Social media is not the only decentralized media. (Web3, for example, is an emerging concept that intends to decentralize the entire internet.) However, it is the most relevant for PR purposes.
Why are people using decentralized social networks?
So, why are decentralized social networks so appealing to users? And who is actually using them?
The data tells the story here.
In 2024 alone, a cumulative 1 billion+ records, including health data, phone data, bank data, and addresses, were stolen in data breaches.
This does nothing to quell the fears of an already distrustful public.
According to data compiled by Exploding Topics, nine out of ten Americans are concerned about their data privacy and feel helpless to defend it.
- 62% of respondents said it was impossible to go through a day without a company collecting their data.
- 63% said the same of the government.
- 75% said they feel substantial tech companies have too much control over their private data.
We have a situation where many feel powerless over data breaches, making them vulnerable to bad actors anywhere in the world. They have very little agency to do anything about it.
With these stark statistics, it is not a mystery why many social media users prefer a transparent and communal method of socially connecting—a system they can actively participate in and exercise some control over.
It’s important to understand the perspective of these new audiences on decentralized social media platforms so that you can reach them as a public relations professional.
Of course, social media users are not monoliths, so everyone’s reasons for being on decentralized social media will be different.
However, the data suggests that privacy concerns, accountability, and ownership are significant driving factors.
Decentralized social media pros and cons
As with every new technology and platform, there are pros and cons for PR and marketing professionals.
Here’s a snapshot of the opportunities and challenges decentralized media presents:
Pros of decentralized media for PR professionals
Let’s look at the pros of decentralized network below:
Greater targeting opportunities
Because users have so much control over their feeds on decentralized platforms, there is a larger number of small, niche interest groups. This makes targeting a breeze.
It’s easier to reach targeted audiences, and engagement can increase because you’re not inadvertently showing your messages to tons of people who aren’t interested.
Brand transparency
We’ve seen from the data above that active users of decentralized networks are motivated by transparency and autonomy over user privacy.
This creates fertile ground to highlight brand commitments to ethical privacy practices, earning the trust of new audiences.
Smaller, more active communities
The nature of decentralized social media encourages more communal interaction, which gives you interactive feedback in real-time.
This is immensely helpful for pivoting strategies with little guesswork and data analysis.
Cons of decentralized media for PR professionals
Here are the cons of a decentralized network:
Risk
Decentralized platforms tend to have less moderation, making reporting or removing misinformation or harmful content harder.
Participating on platforms with fewer (if any) regulatory guidelines also carries legal risks, which may create greater liability issues.
Fragmented audiences
Smaller audiences allow for more precise targeting, but reaching a broad audience is more challenging with users spread over different decentralized platforms.
Creating distinct messages and maintaining brand consistency requires more work and complex PR strategies.
Crisis management
The fragmented nature of decentralized audiences also makes crisis management more difficult. When content is spread among many audiences, monitoring and counteracting negative publicity circulating in niche communities is harder.
Paid promotion
Paid advertising opportunities on decentralized platforms are limited. Some Adtech tools help centralize and contextualize the advertising process, but the approach is still evolving and will take some experimentation to streamline.
What Adtech does is that it uses data-driven targeting to ensure that messages reach the right audience on the platform. It creates new ways to target audiences using first-party data and contextual ads.
5 strategies for effective PR engagement in decentralized spaces
Now that you have a better idea of the lay of the land on blockchain-based social networks, let’s look at some strategies to engage these new audiences effectively.
1) Choose your platform
The same strategic rules of traditional social platforms also apply to decentralized social networks. You can’t be all things to all people. And if you spread your resources too thin, you won’t be doing any of it well. Figure out which decentralized publishing platforms best align with your client’s brand and drill down, learning everything you can about it and its users.
2) Prioritize transparency and authenticity
Transparency is the name of the game on alternative platforms. Engage with decentralized communities in a genuine, non-commercial way that respects platform values and user expectations.
Actual online interaction that contributes to community discussion and actively listens to the community is paramount.
Of course, authenticity has always been important in the social media space. But keep in mind why these blockchain-based social media platforms exist at all: content creators want distance from traditional platforms and everything that entails.
They don’t want their feeds bloated with phony, disingenuous messages. So be authentic. Be transparent. Enter online communities in good faith with the focused intent of being a valuable contributor.
3) Use niche audiences to your advantage
Niche audiences offer a unique opportunity for exclusive high-quality content. Encourage the set-apart feeling of decentralized groups by offering exclusive news, behind-the-scenes content, and fresh insights catered to each specific community.
Earn loyalty by fostering an environment of separateness by making users feel they have access to special or “insider” content unavailable on traditional platforms.
4) Create a metric monitoring plan
Metric monitoring is how you determine the success of any given campaign. A challenge of decentralized networks is that they don’t have the infrastructure for metric analysis like mainstream platforms, making metric monitoring harder.
However, it’s still possible to monitor trends. Web scraping technology enables data collection on trending topics, sentiments, and community interests, providing a comprehensive view of decentralized discussions.
Platforms or blockchain-based media lack centralized application programming interfaces (APIs), complicating content tracking.
Scraping keeps your content aligned with current trends by following popular hashtags, keywords, and posts.
Keeping up with trending conversations lets you jump in the conversation, engage promptly, and adjust your PR strategy quickly in response to real-time insights.
5) Leverage influencer partnerships
Influencer partnerships look different on decentralized platforms. Influencers on alternative platforms are less “influencers,” as we have come to understand them, and more respected community figures.
These figures help you establish a credible online presence in the space. Some establishment strategies on traditional platforms like TikTok prompt people to get active TikTok followers to provide an initial boost.
But on decentralized platforms, meaningfully engaging with community leaders will get you more traction.
The goal is to identify and collaborate with respected community figures who align with your client’s brand values to amplify your messaging. Community-endorsed figures will help bridge the gap between your client’s brand and community members.
Integrating decentralized media in your PR approach
Decentralized platforms are the Wild West of social media platforms. This creates exciting opportunities but also specific challenges to the role of public relations.
The first step is to understand decentralized media and its audiences. Remember, the rules have changed, and what the common user cares about is different from traditional platforms.
Choose your decentralized networks carefully, focusing only on those that offer the most traction for your clients. Go in armed with understanding and a willingness to collaborate. Design your PR strategies around the platform’s needs and mentality and partner with community leaders already established in the space.
Integrating these new platforms and social media networks will take time and effort, but we have faced technological changes (like a central authority and user control) before and adapted. This time is no different.
Speak to a PR expert if you’d like to discuss your social media needs.
