IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bushor/v68y2025i1p109-120.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Content creators at a crossroads between decentralized and centralized social media

Author

Listed:
  • Khobzi, Hamid
  • Canhoto, Ana Isabel
  • Ramezani, Mohammad Sadegh

Abstract

Social media has become an important channel and source of income for content creators. However, the owners of centralized social media platforms may engage in practices and make decisions related to monetization, content moderation, and privacy and security, which may be detrimental to content creators’ earning potential and long-term success. As such, this article investigates the extent to which new types of social media platforms may address those three challenges due to their decentralized nature. Specifically, we analyze the potential and limitations of federated vs. blockchain-based social media platforms as platforms for content creators and provide recommendations for content creators. Given the role of user-generated content in the success of social media platforms, we also provide directions for research and development of decentralized social media to increase their relevance for content creators.

Suggested Citation

  • Khobzi, Hamid & Canhoto, Ana Isabel & Ramezani, Mohammad Sadegh, 2025. "Content creators at a crossroads between decentralized and centralized social media," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 109-120.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:68:y:2025:i:1:p:109-120
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2024.04.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681324000557
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bushor.2024.04.010?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kaplan, Andreas M. & Haenlein, Michael, 2010. "Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 59-68, January.
    2. McMullan, Kylie, 2023. "A checklist for managers to enhance influencer partnerships and avoid potential pitfalls," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 443-452.
    3. Park, Andrew & Wilson, Matthew & Robson, Karen & Demetis, Dionysios & Kietzmann, Jan, 2023. "Interoperability: Our exciting and terrifying Web3 future," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 529-541.
    4. Frizzo-Barker, Julie & Chow-White, Peter A. & Adams, Philippa R. & Mentanko, Jennifer & Ha, Dung & Green, Sandy, 2020. "Blockchain as a disruptive technology for business: A systematic review," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    5. Jörg Claussen & Tobias Kretschmer & Philip Mayrhofer, 2013. "The Effects of Rewarding User Engagement: The Case of Facebook Apps," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 186-200, March.
    6. Murray, Alex & Kim, Dennie & Combs, Jordan, 2023. "The promise of a decentralized internet: What is Web3 and how can firms prepare?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 191-202.
    7. Tafesse, Wondwesen & Dayan, Mumin, 2023. "Content creators' participation in the creator economy: Examining the effect of creators’ content sharing frequency on user engagement behavior on digital platforms," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    8. Zhan, Yuanzhu & Xiong, Yu & Xing, Xinjie, 2023. "A conceptual model and case study of blockchain-enabled social media platform," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wu He & Feng-Kwei Wang & Yong Chen & Shenghua Zha, 0. "An exploratory investigation of social media adoption by small businesses," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-12.
    2. Wu He & Feng-Kwei Wang & Yong Chen & Shenghua Zha, 2017. "An exploratory investigation of social media adoption by small businesses," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 149-160, June.
    3. Gala, Kaushik, 2024. "Digital Davids, global Goliaths, and the Web3 sling," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 5-17.
    4. Wu He & Feng-Kwei Wang, 2016. "A process-based framework of using social media to support innovation process," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 263-277, September.
    5. Peng, Yi & Lu, Liling, 2024. "Untangling influence: The effect of follower-followee comparison on social media engagement," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    6. Urbani, Roberto & Ferreira, Caitlin & Lam, Joey, 2024. "Managerial framework for evaluating AI chatbot integration: Bridging organizational readiness and technological challenges," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 67(5), pages 595-606.
    7. Brewer, Jordan & Patel, Dhru & Kim, Dennie & Murray, Alex, 2024. "Navigating the challenges of generative technologies: Proposing the integration of artificial intelligence and blockchain," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 67(5), pages 525-535.
    8. Sheng, Jie & Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Wang, Xiaojun, 2019. "Technology in the 21st century: New challenges and opportunities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 321-335.
    9. Fan, Rui & Xu, Ke & Zhao, Jichang, 2018. "An agent-based model for emotion contagion and competition in online social media," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 495(C), pages 245-259.
    10. Nour El Houda Ben Amor & Mohamed Nabil Mzoughi, 2023. "Do Millennials’ Motives for Using Snapchat Influence the Effectiveness of Snap Ads?," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, July.
    11. Ferdinand Thies & Sören Wallbach & Michael Wessel & Markus Besler & Alexander Benlian, 2022. "Initial coin offerings and the cryptocurrency hype - the moderating role of exogenous and endogenous signals," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(3), pages 1691-1705, September.
    12. Schmidt, Christoph G. & Wuttke, David A. & Heese, H. Sebastian & Wagner, Stephan M., 2023. "Antecedents of public reactions to supply chain glitches," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    13. Huang, Lingyu & Zhou, Tingyuan, 2024. "How does blockchain technology enhance firm operation and cooperation?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 34-49.
    14. Mahan, Joseph E. & Seo, Won Jae & Jordan, Jeremy S. & Funk, Daniel, 2015. "Exploring the impact of social networking sites on running involvement, running behavior, and social life satisfaction," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 182-192.
    15. Molina, Arturo & Fernández, Alejandra C. & Gómez, Mar & Aranda, Evangelina, 2017. "Differences in the city branding of European capitals based on online vs. offline sources of information," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 28-39.
    16. Carmela Milano, 2015. "Democratization or else vulgarization of cultural capital? The role of social networks in theater’s audience behavior," Working Papers CEB 15-004, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    17. Yucheng Zhang & Zhiling Wang & Lin Xiao & Lijun Wang & Pei Huang, 2023. "Discovering the evolution of online reviews: A bibliometric review," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-22, December.
    18. Hassan Danaeefard & Ali Farazmand & Akram Dastyari, 2023. "The Iranian Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-9) Crisismanship: Understanding the Contributions of National Culture, Media, Technology and Economic System," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 1661-1682, December.
    19. Richey, Michelle & Ravishankar, M.N., 2019. "The role of frames and cultural toolkits in establishing new connections for social media innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 325-333.
    20. Jamal El-Den & Pratap Adikhari & Pratap Adikhari, 2017. "Social media in the service of social entrepreneurship: Identifying factors for better services," Journal of Advances in Humanities and Social Sciences, Dr. Yi-Hsing Hsieh, vol. 3(2), pages 105-114.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:68:y:2025:i:1:p:109-120. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/bushor .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.