Why you should map on proto

An introduction to incentives, monetization for mappers and distribution

Note: This is a longer blog with nuance and detail. We recommend reading it slowly, carefully and asking any and all questions you have. Building value in a new system is difficult, and requires effort. We expect those who want to do so, will at least put in the effort of reading through a blog.

“Is this just a way to get users for your app ?”
“Are we just capturing data for you to make money off of ?”
“How is this different than Google Local Guides”

Wow. Ok. Firstly, we get it. People don’t have a lotta faith in companies. And we don’t blame you guys, its hard to see why you should have any at this point.

It makes sense that we get these questions about the hows and whys of proto. And we wanna make a sincere effort to answer them and engage actively with those asking them. So we decided to put this together as an explanation of why you should map on proto.

The ice-cream story

For questions that are in the zone of “What is the need ?”, “Why would you pay us for this ?”, we have a simple argument to present.

Our answers lie in understanding the word “Decentralization”.

Imagine person A builds a database to keep track of all the ice-cream flavors they come across. A is obsessive, and the build out a frontend for cataloging ice-creams instantly when he spots them. Now, B see’s A’s database and wants access to add more ice-cream. A decides to just build out a system where anyone can catalog ice-cream flavors.

So now, there’s a network of ice-cream catalogers, all capturing info about each ice-cream flavors across the world. At some point, Ben & Jerry’s sees this and wants to use this data for research.

The network, while initiated by A was built out by everyone collectively. So its only fair that there is consensus on how this value is shared.

Once we’re at this point, the ice-cream db can diversify into frozen yogurt, into sorbet, gourmet desserts; all that jazz. And since the community has developed methods for consensus, they can collectively make decisions on how to proceed and where to go next.

Replace our team with person A and our maps with the ice-cream db. And your questions will be answered.

The ice-cream database, was effectively a decentralized database and its contributors were all part of a decentralized network. And while our originator A was able to get his fair value for having built this, everyone else was equally important in its scaling and was therefore fairly represented. The essence of this network was not “let’s get as many people involved, give them value at first and then slowly dilute” (as is often the case with rewards based systems on a lot of platforms). But instead it was about “oh lets start building this together with a lot of talented people, and as we grow let them share in that growth with us”.

Which is where we are coming from as well, our goal is the to focus on building the strongest community of mappers; work together on building maps and do amazing things together.

There is no moral ground

Often, we also get questions (read trolling) that go somewhat along these lines: ”What is the need for this”, “Why should people be compensated for this”, “I map cause its my passion, not for monetary gain”, “Adding money into the mix will sully the purity of mapping”.

Well, unfortunately we don’t think so. We believe that adding creator revenue and providing mappers with the opportunity to build a career in this space will only enhance their ability to map better and do more. Most map-data eventually gets monetized, just without the actual contributor making anything from it and the argument to preserve the so called purity of anything is nothing more than the desire of those entrenched in the system to prevent others from exiting.

Is this like local guide’s ?

No its not. While the local guides program, surely must’ve done a lot of good work; the program is still not mapper centric. You as the mapper are not placed at the center of the ecosystem. So, there is no creator monetization, there’s no say in decision making and ultimately, theres no stake in the platform.

However much your contributions to local guides, there is no partner program to help you monetize, no creator tools to help you share interesting maps and no platform to build an audience on.

Monetization

Now that we are clear on some parts of proto. We’d like to step deeper into how we build creator revenue streams (Hopefully, we’re also past the need for our long-winded ice-cream database example).

Traditionally, content renumeration on platform’s has been of two types:

1. The “Rewards” method : The early era of social media or newer health and fitness apps are the best example here. You create content, as it is consumed you receive points and you are then able to redeem those points for products in the app itself.
2. The Monetization method : YouTube is the best example here. And the system is quite direct, a 55–45 split of revenue between the creator and YouTube; creators get money directly transferred into their accounts.

This is pretty much the same system on Twitter / X now as well, and in both cases creators are always able to make additional revenue via sponsored posts and adverts.

And these systems have served us well for the greater part of a decade now. However, each of them leave two significant gaps :

• Composable Utility: If you do well on one platform and generate value (either via Points or Monetization), that performance or those points do not directly enable things for you on other platforms.
• Skin in the game: Additionally, while you do monetize or get rewarded based on the platform’s rules; the overall performance of the platform does not really create an equivalent impact for you. You don’t have real skin in the game.

And from our perspective, both of these are critical in delivering value to the mapper community. The only truly, mapper-focussed, self-sovereign, trustless monetization mechanism is the token. Though slightly harder to understand and get used to, tokens promise a higher amount of control in the hands of the mapper.

So the $PROTO token will be the primary means of compensating our mappers and until we release that, we will rely on a points system to keep track of mapper contributions.

Distribution

Now, monetization itself is not the end all of this endeavor. While it is critical, most mappers want to share their work, stand out and build an audience for the work they do — both within and beyond the community. Up until this point, maps have not had their own distribution channel. Primarily, because mapping has been relegated to the background and most mappers use other social media platforms to build their distribution (if any).

Proto helps mappers share their work and build distribution on a map-native platform. Thats it. No one else has done that before, apart from those on instagram sharing some map-style graphics — maps have never been used as a means to build distribution for mappers.

Ultimately, this helps you take the niche you build for yourself and take it further by building collaborations for IRL showcases, discovery, cataloging and a range of other opportunities extending beyond what you might expect traditional mapping to deliver.

Some quick FAQ’s

1. What are the technical Details on decentralization and the $PROTO token?
   We will release a whitepaper with all these details very soon.
2. Is this model sustainable in the long term ?
   Value provided to mappers obviously fluctuates, based on how their data is used. But ultimately, our goal is to diversify the revenue streams as much as possible, so that there’s always more than one path for mappers to monetize.
3. Are there any barriers to entry to the app / platform — Whether payments or anything else ?
   There are no barriers to entry to the app, you can use it for free — and you do not need to have a mapping background of nay sort to get started with it.
4. Do you provide community support, resources or any support for map-a-thons ?
   Yes. We provide all kinds of support to mappers, ranging from training courses in GIS (free!) to map-a-thon support grants. You can join our telegram to learn more.

On a long term note,

GIS, Geospatial, being a mapper, all of this has always been projected as a “consulting first” field. And while that may have worked in the past, we are nearing the end of a consulting heavy world. We’re trying to move that needle, and help you build a wider range of opportunities than from just one source. And hence the attempt to build monetization, distribution and collaboration opportunities for mappers.

The best way to get involved therefore, is to get started. Start mapping, find your niche, your style and your audience. And if you need any help, we’re always available along the way.

Join us,

Our App is now available to download on the Apple App Store & Google Play Store.

You can also follow us on twitter & instagram, and join our community to stay tuned !

A short end-note:

There are people (read stalwarts, experienced folks or seniors) who will insist that those who contribute Geospatial Data must not be compensated. The arguments will be along the lines of:

• Map’s are rhetoric….you will only dilute the value of maps.
• This create an imbalance…the right things will not get mapped.
• And so on.

Here’s the thing, when people say this; all they’re really saying is “We never earned for mapping, why should others”

It’s status quo-ism at its worst — An insistence on continuing to do things the way they have been done cause a group has benefited from it immensely — And it is a shameful excuse for the continued extraction of free labor for no reason.

Most map-data, will get monetized. Whether you want it to happen or you don’t. And while it does, its your choice if you want continue doing something thats been done all this while for the sake of peer pressure — go for it.

We’re building an alternative. By no means a perfect one. But we wanna start, and keep trying. And our fundamentals are in the right place. So is the premise. Join us & lets where it goes 🚀