A Blockchain-Based Incentivized Meme Creation Platform

Goatse: A Blockchain-Based Incentivized Meme Creation Platform Abstract: Goatse is a blockchain-based incentivized voting system that supports the generation of dank memes. It implements cryptocurrency-based incentivisation for meme originators, with a primary goal of allowing the internet’s talented meme artists to achieve recognition and reward for their memetic work. Prioritisation of fresh memes is achieved through community based algorithms, which reward users for identifying hot OC (Original Content) and the dankest memes. Goatse integrates with existing normie social media channels to stretch the platform’s memetic footprint and amplify the rewards for content creation. In simple terms, Goatse aims to originate then propagate the freshest OC and dankest memes through providing a fertile blockchain enabled distributed meme ecosystem. 1. Introduction Meme generation on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on a small number of social media platforms serving as both the meme incubator and the meme distribution channel. While these systems work well enough to produce low quality memes for general consumption, they still suffer from the limited capability of the content creators. Internet image boards have traditionally attracted talented meme autists and have been a breeding ground for fresh OC, but have struggled to efficiently overcome high volumes of copy pasta and forced memes. What is needed is a meme generation system that is able to reward both talented memists and the community based arbiters of memetic quality. At the same time, such a system should minimise the destructive impact of normie ‘bad actors’ in meme prioritisation and distribution. Further, the system must ensure the integrity of the OC being produced to disincentivise the use of stale content. Goatse is a decentralised blockchain system that has been built to overcome the issues inherent in the creation of dank memes. Blockchain technology is well suited to overcoming many of the above issues – it offers a distributed ledger, non-repudiation of transactions, and the capability to process smart contracts that can reward meme generation participants based on defined rules. 2. How it works TL;DR Goatse Coin leverages the Ethereum blockchain and an ERC20 token system to incentivise the creation of Original Content (OC) dank memes. Users of Goatse Coin vote on the Meme of the Day (MOTD) and the coins used to vote are frozen until the end of the voting period. When the voting period ends, the meme with the most votes is determined the winner MOTD. The creator of the MOTD receives a reward of Goatse Coins. Voters receive Goatse Coins based on their voting. The diagram below shows a typical workflow for a meme uploaded to Goatse. OC Meme created in MS Paint Upload to Goatse Cloud™ Goatse applies ID token to Meme Users vote on daily OC Memes At end of the day, the Dankest Memes are found Goatse Stretch™ social media propagation Dank memes rise to the top Voted Goatse Coins frozen in Blockchain Goatse Coins paid to winrar Meme Creator Randomised Goatse Coins paid in Goatse Voter Lottery™ A dank meme is born Dank meme goes viral First, lovingly crafted fresh meme are uploaded to the Goatse Cloud™ and assigned an ID token in the blockchain. The meme can then be viewed by Goatse users on their computer or mobile phone. The users vote on their favourite meme(s) using their Goatse Coins. The Goatse Coins are then frozen in the blockchain while the daily voting takes place. Goatse Stretch™ runs to incentivise users to share their memes on social networks and entice more voting. Dank memes rise to the top of the daily list. At the end of the 24-hour voting period, Goatse Coins are released to the Meme Creator and Goatse Voter Lottery winrars. A dank meme is born and goes viral. Another 24-hour voting period begins. 3. The Memetic Kill Chain In military parlance, a "Kill Chain" is a phase-based model to describe the stages of an attack. The process for effective introduction of powerful memetic content (also known as ‘Dank Memes’ or ‘Power Memes’) follows a similar chain, known as the Memetic Kill Chain. Interestingly, completely different actors usually perform roles at the various links in the chain. The successful completion of the Memetic Kill Chain does not require coordination between the various actors – for instance meme origination is often performed separately from the actors involved in meme propagation. The process to produce a dank meme is as follows: Reconnaissance  Origination  Discovery  Propagation a) Reconnaissance – The act of assessing the environment to acquire memetic OC to use in the meme production. b) Origination – Creation of the dank meme using available toolsets. Initial distribution of the genesis meme. Performed by the meme autist and often takes place on internet image boards. c) Discovery – Meme discovery involves an assessment of both meme freshness and dankness. This step is typically undertaken by a community with expertise in meme selection. d) Propagation – Distribution of the meme is usually facilitated through the use of social media. Normies as well as meme autists have the capability to perform this function. Understanding these links in the Meme Kill Chain is critical to understanding how we can improve meme production. We have deliberately designed Goatse to address each of the steps in the chain. 4. Incentivisation Meme origination, discovery and propagation have traditionally been undertaken with limited incentives. The few incentives that exist are often ineffective in both in terms of form (eg. satisfaction for ‘upvotes’ or ‘shares’ on social media) and application (ie. applied inconsistently by normies, often to the wrong party). a) Rewarding the Meme Originators Production of a truly dank meme is a complex, involved exercise akin to professional music composition and production. Dank memes are often the result of significant labour along with the application of memetic experience, effort and judgment. A meme autist may spend years carefully collating their meme folder prior to their first true breakthrough dank OC meme. However, at present, the meme originator is almost always unknown and receives little if any reward to support the creation of even danker memes. The majority of dank memes originate from a small subset of meme producers called ‘Power Memers’. Just as YouTube has rewarded content producers and turned video bloggers into ‘internet celebrities’, Goatse intends to turn Power Memers into the Rock Stars of the Internet. b) Rewarding the Meme Arbiters Discovery of fresh dank memes, requires discipline, judgement and a working knowledge of the meme universe. Identification of fresh memes is beyond the capability of the vast majority of normies. Further, there is currently no recorded instance of a normie ever identifying a dank meme. Goatse recognises the importance of a community of discerning meme arbiters who are able to determine the dankness of produced memes. These individuals are typically part time meme autists with a deep knowledge of memetics and meme magic. Meme arbiters are rewarded through the blockchain for their ability to collectively identify and propagate dank memes. 5. Distribution: Social Media Integration – Goatse Takes Memes Viral The current spate of social media platforms are responsible for hastening the adoption of the internet globally. Since around 2007, normies have flooded online and popularised a small number of highly trafficked social media sites. The following sites are estimated to have reached over 5 billion users collectively - Facebook, Yandex, YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Sina Weibo and QZone. It is an inconvenient truth that although these sites have allowed easy and widespread distribution of memes, the memetic quality of the content being trafficked has suffered. Fresh OC is often buried under the weight of stale memes and copy pasta. Dank meme origination and discovery has declined significantly as a consequence. Goatse is designed to take advantage of these normie social media meme distribution channels. Through integration with existing social media, Goatse can expand viewership and virality, while creating a feedback loop of greater rewards to content creation participants. 6. Kirk Johnson Goatse Coin Pension Fund The whereabouts of Kirk Johnson (the Goatse Man) are presently unknown. The ‘Kirk Johnson Goatse Coin Pension Fund’ has been created to hold 1% of all Goatse Coins in reserve for Kirk’s needs (reconstructive surgery or otherwise). In order to release the coins, Goatse asks that Kirk provide the Goatse Community a request for release of the coins with evidence proving ownership of a destination wallet. Never before has one man given so much to so many but asked so little. Thank you Kirk. 7. Conclusion We have proposed a system for peer to peer meme generation enabled through a distributed blockchain. We started with a known problem – the ongoing failure the current form of social media to produce dank memes. We discussed the main actors in the process of dank meme origination, discovery and propagation. We then examined how the Goatse would specifically target steps in the Meme Kill Chain to produce dank memes and how this process would be enabled by the Goatse Blockchain and Goatse Coins.