Tsu: The New Social Network That Pays You for Posts, Friends

There's a saying in high tech that if you're not paying for a service, then you're the product. That's how social networks like Twitter and Facebook generally w
ork. Users get access, while the companies that run the platforms use the personal data they acquire to better target marketing from advertisers for a price.

Some startups such as Ello have tried to break this mold and offer privacy to users by refusing to show ads, though it's unclear how well that business model will last in the long run. And then there's newcomer Tsu, which says it will share ad revenue with users. If you can't beat 'em, bill 'em.

Recently unveiled after a $7 million venture capital investment, Tsu is the brainchild of entrepreneurs Sebastian Sobczak, Drew Ginsburg, Thibault Boullenger, and Jonathan Lewin. The concept is simple: Users distribute and share original content, just like they do on all other social networks, but on Tsu, they get the lion's share of the ad revenue.

Recently unveiled after a $7 million venture capital investment, Tsu is the brainchild of entrepreneurs Sebastian Sobczak, Drew Ginsburg, Thibault Boullenger, and Jonathan Lewin. The concept is simple: Users distribute and share original content, just like they do on all other social networks, but on Tsu, they get the lion's share of the ad revenue.
Tsu will keep 10 percent of the ad revenue, and will distribute the other 90 percent to its users, based on how often they post, how widely what they post is shared, and how many friends they have recruited into their personal networks on the system. How the money gets split up depends on a complicated formula, with the person who creates a post getting the largest amount and portions decreasing as you go further down the sharing tree
As the blog site Re/Code points out, celebrities with large followings will make the most under this model, although people who pass along those popular posts can make something. And any compensation at all for posting on a social media site is more than what you've been getting from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, and the like.
The Tsu office in NYC

According to Re/Code, rapper 50 Cent and NBA star Carmelo Anthony are already signed up, although it's not clear how active they might be. And if you don't post, you don't profit.

Social network Bubblews launched with a similar approach in 2012. Payments are on the order of a penny per like, so don't plan on funding your Hawaiian getaway with your posting income. But if you're tired of giving those posts away for free to the Silicon Valley elite, it may be time to consider a new network.