DeutschFor years, social media and cryptocurrencies have been developing in parallel at a breathtaking pace, and nothing has changed to this day. But what makes up the relationship between Bitcoin and social media?
What began in 2016 with simple forum posts quickly developed into a social phenomenon. For the first time, social media showed keen interest in cryptocurrencies and spread relevant news like wildfire. An equally historic event took place six years earlier. Laszlo Hanyecz was the first person to exchange bitcoins for goods from the real world. In 2010, the building contractor from Florida paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas from Papa John’s! Unthinkable from today’s perspective, the BTC was worth only less than half a cent at the time.
However, this event showed the world that Bitcoin could actually be used as a real currency. And even though this news initially only reached a few ears, social media was already in play here. While these two pizzas would have been worth millions of dollars on today’s market, we owe quite a bit to this silly order. Only Laszlo Hanyecz is probably still annoyed.
Thanks to the growing public acceptance and wider use of bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies, these are now considered socially and economically viable assets, with a value of almost $9,000 per bitcoin. It is also easier than ever to get into this business and set up a wallet, a digital wallet, for trading bitcoins. For example, crypto exchanges like Bitvavo enable every newcomer to enter easily and safely in order to take the first steps in an unknown area.
The Influencer Market
Not everyone is familiar with the term influencer. But even those who don’t work in marketing will find it difficult to define “influencer”. Social media influencers are individuals who have made it their job to integrate certain products and services into their lives and thereby promote or market them. Among these influencers are also celebrities, such as actors or musicians, who build individual and personal brands based on their fame.
The medium of these influencers are media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube. They show themselves in a private environment and produce evaluable content, so-called peer reviews, which give their target groups a feeling of co-determination. In this way, they reach a huge, often cross-industry audience, all from the comfort of their own home. It is believed that 92% of customers find the content of influencers more appealing than the advertised products of traditional advertising models – such as commercials.
When it comes to the public acceptance of little-known industries and products, influencers are extremely influential. Probably due to the fact that the content comes from an already trusted source, quasi first-hand information. In short, influencers are an indispensable part of modern marketing. According to a 2018 study, every dollar spent on advertising campaigns through influencers yields an average of $7.65 in return.
Bitcoin on the Rise
Whether the influence and spread of cryptocurrencies will ultimately be the responsibility of influencers remains to be seen. What is beyond doubt, however, is that cryptocurrencies are closely related to social media platforms.
Outside the reach of influencers and YouTube channels, more news articles, press releases and information have been produced in recent years than ever before in the history of Bitcoin. Social media platforms offer an ideal environment for the dissemination of this information. As cryptocurrencies are used in more and more areas, more and more people are interested in the topic. This can also be seen as one of the biggest drivers for the spread of bitcoins.
Although Bitcoin was invented and released in 2009, the cryptocurrency’s public awareness only really took hold in 2017. In the early years, a BTC was worth less than a dollar. It was not until 2016 and through the reporting of competent social media that Bitcoin’s awareness began to increase rapidly. This was also the year that Steemit, a platform similar to Reddit, was launched. What set Steemit apart – and ultimately contributed to the mainstream of Bitcoin – was that authors could be paid for the posts they wrote using cryptocurrencies.
While Steemit eventually fell into oblivion, its value for the rise of cryptocurrencies and their related technologies was immense. Steemit managed to create a cognitive bridge between laypeople and cryptocurrencies – a previously unseen tangibility of digital currencies in everyday use.
Bitcoin and Social Media
While Steemit has been largely abandoned, the connection between social media and cryptocurrencies that was once created by this platform continues in a fairly healthy way. Also, because more and more people spend their time with social media and use it as their preferred channel for contact with the outside world, cryptocurrencies are becoming more and more commonplace.
The more use cases there are for cryptocurrencies, the more familiar and less suspicious people become with their handling – an increasing general acceptance. However, social media also has the ability to negatively influence the course and acceptance of cryptocurrencies. The old saying “Even bad press is good press” does not always apply here. In fact, after the now infamous Bitfinex hacks, there was a storm on social media. Among other things, this led to a 20% drop in the value of Bitcoin, even though penetration or adoption was not yet that high at the time.
Every company will constantly look for new and innovative ways to connect with target groups and existing customers. Since Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not a centralized business, these technologies are heavily dependent on their biggest advocates and users. These are the ones who advertise them. While it is possible for crypto exchanges and shops to finance expensive advertising campaigns, the cryptocurrencies themselves depend on the approval of their users. In order to make ideal use of social media, it is therefore important that you also support the cryptocurrency of your choice through articles and their distribution. This is like free advertising, and we all benefit from it.
