Minds – the social network that puts users first and uses blockchain technology

Minds is an open-source, decentralized social network that rewards its users with tokens for their activity and promises to respect their personal data. We wrote about it in March 2021, when it looked like it had the potential to carve out a place next to the titans Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. The Minds website was still running when we updated this article in November 2026, but the network never became a mass-market alternative.

What is Minds?

Minds was founded in 2011 by Bill Ottman. It’s an open-source social network (its code is public, on GitLab and GitHub) that works in a decentralized way. Users earn tokens in exchange for their contributions, and the credits they collect can be used to promote their own content or can be donated. The developer documentation also mentions the ActivityPub and Nostr protocols, which other decentralized networks use as well.

The social network prides itself on respecting users’ sensitive data and uses blockchain technology.

What benefits does the Minds platform promise?

The main benefits, as the platform presented them in 2021:

• Open source: users can actively contribute code to the platform’s development.
• Data protection: the platform’s internal chat is encrypted, and messages are stored on Minds servers.
• Gamification: the platform awards points, which can be used to promote your own content.
• Monetization: content creators can monetize their content through paid subscriptions.
• Reach: the platform is designed so that all your followers get to see your content.

What’s more, the platform lets users filter out paid content (ads), so it doesn’t show up in their feed. That’s unlike Facebook, which “knows” you searched Google for IT solutions and floods you with all sorts of related ads.

Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? A social network that lets content creators monetize their writing, but also rewards users according to their activity.

The feature that lets you hide advertising is gold for users but, by the same token, a headache for marketers.

Why doesn’t a social network like this succeed?

Minds has remained a niche social network aimed at a small audience. It can be put to good use mainly by premium content creators, but ordinary users, the ones who want their opinions to be seen by their circle of friends, stay where their friends are.

Likewise, the option to hide paid content discourages advertisers from actively promoting themselves on the platform, which doesn’t help it grow in popularity.

What alternatives to Facebook and X have appeared since 2021?

The idea of a social network that gives users more control hasn’t gone away, but other platforms have been more successful than Minds:

• Mastodon, a decentralized network made up of independent servers connected through the ActivityPub protocol, attracted many users after Elon Musk bought Twitter at the end of 2022.
• Bluesky, built on an open protocol, has been open to anyone since February 2024, no invitation needed.
• Threads, the network Meta launched in July 2023 for Instagram users.
• X is the name Twitter was given in July 2023.

None of these networks has reached Facebook’s number of users, but each of them has changed where companies look for their audience.

What does a new social network mean for your company’s security?

Every new social network is also a target for scammers: fake accounts impersonating well-known companies, phishing links, promises of cryptocurrency winnings. If your company opens an account on a new network:

• reserve the company name early, so nobody else takes it;
• use an email address dedicated to social networks and a unique password;
• turn on two-step verification;
• give your marketing colleagues access with their own accounts, not with a shared password.

We explained why these rules matter in our article on the data breach affecting Twitter’s business customers. And to learn how to recognize a deceptive message, see how not to fall prey to phishing attacks.

When we’re not doing IT, we like to follow new trends and technologies. This helps us keep up with what’s happening in the market and stay well informed, so we can offer our clients innovative, personalized solutions.