From automation to authenticity: blockchain as a remedy to AI-enhanced social media activism

Kassen M.
2026 Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH

AI and Society
2026

The rapid rise of AI-driven activism and automated interactions in social media has intensified concerns about superficial engagement, misinformation, and large-scale manipulation of public opinion. This article examines how blockchain, as a decentralized and trust-generating technology, can reshape social networking by promoting more accountable, transparent, and incentivized interactions. Based on empirical data collected from focus groups and interviews with blockchain developers, media specialists, and e-participation practitioners across multiple countries, this study analyzes how core mechanisms of blockchain for data preservation, verification, distribution, and retention can counteract the inefficiencies of AI-driven algorithmic slacktivism or neo-slacktivism. It further explores how tokenized interactions and consensus algorithms such as proof of work, proof of stake, delegated proof of stake, and proof of authority can enable more meaningful digital participation of people in activities such as e-voting, e-petitioning, and civic engagement. Although recognizing risks such as content liberalization and challenges of decentralized moderation, the findings highlight the potential of blockchain to promote genuine, traceable, and incentivized communication in social media environments. By integrating insights from structuration and stakeholder theories, the research advances the debate on whether blockchain can mitigate the negative spillovers of AI-enhanced manipulation and empower civil society with more reliable instruments for digital democracy.

AI , Algorithmic neo-slacktivism , Artificial intelligence systems , Blockchain , Data management , Social networking , Tokenized interaction

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Astana IT University, Astana, Kazakhstan

Astana IT University

10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель

Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026