On February 23 of this year, we had an opportunity to have a chat with one of the biggest names in blockchain technology, Uma Hagenguth. Uma Hagenguth is the COO and co-founder of Appics AG, a social media platform akin to Instagram, is housed on the Telos network. Uma has been involved with crypto since 2011 and introduced blockchain technology in 2013. By 2016 she became fully immersed by blogging, then in 2018 is when she became the co-founder of Appics, by Tony Winchester.
In more detail this is how Appics works and is revolutionary. Appics works like Instagram, a social media app centered around the sharing of pictures, but is based on blockchain technology. So instead of likes and a third party calculating your interests, algorithmically, there is an integrated reward system, Appics Token ($APX). The community on the platform decides what’s valuable. This means that if you want to continue to see, perhaps more dog videos, you send the creator of dog videos Appics tokens, to effectively pay them for their content. This means there is no middle man, or third party receiving compensation. How the pay works is there is a pool that goes to creators and commentors, and followers vote what is valuable. 65% of the post goes to the creator, 25% goes to fans who comment on creators’ posts, and 10% goes back to the apps. This system is decentralized, and starts earning the minute you are active. Uma describes this as a great introduction to cryptocurrency because of the relatability to existing systems. This method of social interaction causes users on Appics to think more about what is valuable on their feeds and to think critically about how the content should be valued. People tend to be more cautious and bring more authenticity and positivity to social media with more engagement. Appics engagement is significantly higher than existing web 2.0 social mediums, and less about algorithms and more about engaging in community with one another.
In this quickly emerging field of technology, or just technology in general, we often find ourselves in a male-dominated industry. With this short article, I intend to highlight the women who are making plenty of noise simply by the exceptional work they are producing for the masses through blockchain technology. With a few questions, my intention is to learn more about these individuals and make blockchain more accessible to those who may feel like this is an intimidating space.
Q1:The goal you plan to achieve with Appics is to make blockchain and Web 3.0 technology more accessible in general. How can we as a community focus on bringing more women into roles such as yours within the community?
A: First, present education that is marketed and focused towards women and the info is tech savvy and brand it towards women, much of tech has been predominantly targeted towards men. Secondly, instead of highlighting women for the sake of being women, Uma states just make it a norm to recognize the work that women put forth and have women support other women within these spaces get more female voices on board.
Do you feel women aren’t as comfortable in tech? Why or why not?
A: Uma states that personally there is a big stigma within society about what is classified as a job suitable for a man and a job that is suitable for a woman. That creates opportunities for developing and having room for both for women. She believes that it’s just a matter of creating a new narrative around this idea for bringing women into the tech space. Reaching out towards women in other industries that they are capable of working in tech and breaking down barriers and stigmas within these varying places. Uma also states, “women shouldn’t be placed on a pedestal. The main goal is to have valuable work that speaks for itself. Also, do not be intimidated by being the only woman in the space and let your work speak for yourself.”
What are some of your personal goals you would like to see for Web 3.0 and blockchain technology within the next year and within the next five years?
A: Uma would like to focus on mass adoption on Appics, an NFT marketplace, having a place within the metaverse and being decentralized within other industries such as finance and other social media platforms. Within the next 18 months: for bitcoin to become more prominent and mass adoption of countries accepting crypto as valid currencies.
Were you familiar with Women’s History Month prior to this meeting? How did you celebrate? Who are women in your life that you look up to?
A: Uma says, while being familiar with the month, there has not been a big spotlight on Women’s History Month in her life. Uma says her team at Appics is evenly represented; half of the core team are women and that is who inspires her. These women who present good work and create an even playing field that is balanced. Uma says, it’s not so much about them being women it’s also very much about the work that inspires her, and that they just happen to be women is inspiring.
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GoodBlock Technologies is an app developer and Block Producer candidate on the Telos Blockchain Network, with a focus on 2 of the pillars of Web3.0; Governance (decidevoter.app) and Decentralized Cloud Storage (dstor.cloud). Vote for goodblocktls, and learn more at goodblock.io.
Telos is a cost-effective, energy efficient, fast, and scalable DPoS blockchain that has been operational for over 2 years. The Telos blockchain has leading on-chain governance (Telos Decide), and is built and developed by a core development team using the EOSIO codebase.
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