Pi Network, a Web3 app ecosystem and developer platform with a community of tens of millions of humans mining Pi cryptocurrency, today debuted Staked Direct Messages (Staked DMs) on the Pi Chat app. This new feature allows Pioneers (Pi Network members) the ability to access any individual in the network, via direct message, by staking their Pi cryptocurrency, deepening the utility of Pi and building a richer experience for Pioneers and prospective users worldwide.
Introduced in 2019 as Pi Network’s first chat functionality, Pi Chats quickly became the primary method for Pioneers to have open discussions with others in the network. As with most online discussion sites, the need for direct messaging capabilities on Pi Chats became apparent as more and more Pioneers expressed interest in connecting and collaborating with each other.
The Pi Network Core Team has been actively studying and testing the power of cryptoeconomics as a mechanism to solve the problems that have been facing Web2 online communications for years. Pi’s Fireside Forum, a Web3 social app that debuted in May, was the first initiative using a novel token economics model powered by Pi cryptocurrency to optimize the online social experience and address social content curation—incentivizing positive interactions with token rewards while disincentivizing the negative ones with token penalties.
“Since inception, Pi Network’s vision has always been to use blockchain technology to push the limits of its originally intended use; with Fireside Forum and now Pi Chats, Web3 token economics has the power to not only transform our online experiences, but cultivate a more authentic environment for meaningful social exchanges,” said Dr. Chengdiao Fan, one of the two Founders and Head of Product. ” Staked DMs is Pi Network’s attempt to answer this need by allowing members across the Pi Network community to message each other directly on a one-to-one basis. And thanks to its Web3 mechanism designed to signal constructive connections while curbing unwanted communications, it may ultimately solve for DM spamming problems common to Web2 platforms while allowing more accessibility.”
While Fireside Forum looked to inspire positive content interactions between Pioneers, the newest Staked DMs feature to Pi Chat calls for more authentic interactions by addressing access permission. Unlike traditional social media platforms, where direct messaging functions are hampered both by a lack of transparent access to others and an overflow of spam and low-quality noise, Pi Chats’ latest feature introduces a staking mechanism that instead focuses on promoting genuine connections.
Traditionally, Web2 has attempted incurring costs and giving rewards for screening spam. Those monetization attempts, however, have been unevenly rolled out and could turn human connections that are supposed to form organically into extrinsically motivated behavior, diverging from the original purpose of the connection itself. In comparison, Pi Network provides all users, within and outside the Pi Network community, with decentralized opportunities to connect on a level playing field through a crypto-enabled messaging system that discourages spam and information overload and can allow users to form meaningful connections with others more organically.
With Staked DMs, Pi Network helps empower users to connect while providing the potential onramp to more complex chat-based social interactions such as group chats and channels where Pioneers and external parties and projects can meet and grow at scale. By creating the first atoms of a crypto-fueled system for social access with 1-on-1 direct messaging, Pi is creating not just a new mode of interaction powered by Pi cryptocurrency, but a model for what a distributed social access mechanism network can be.
The new Pi Chats update is now available on the Pi Browser–another Pi Network mobile app which can be downloaded for free on Google Play or the Apple App Store. For more information, or to join Pi Network, please visit Minepi.com.
ABOUT PI NETWORK
Pi Network is a community of tens of millions of humans mining Pi cryptocurrency to use and build the Web3 app ecosystem. Founded in 2018 by a team of early innovators in blockchain and social computing, with PhDs from Stanford University, Pi Network is a utilities-based ecosystem for third-party apps on a mobile web platform, with widespread (rather than concentrated) token distribution. The blockchain platform offers a mobile-first mining approach, with low financial cost and a light environmental footprint within the crypto space.