How Will Web3 Change the Future of Social Media? Challenges and Problems with Web3
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| Web3's Problem and How It Affects Social Media |
As a result, many are wondering whether web3 will be more of a libertarian socialist utopia than a technocratic one. You might then be asking yourself, "Wait, how did we go from loving social media to being branded a socialist if we want to enjoy web3?" What are the current ground rules for conduct? Web3 does have its problems, it's true. The following 4 will influence how we view web 3 through the prism of social media.
First Problem: The Dangers of Anonymity and Online Identity
Web3's ability to let users choose what information about themselves is one of its more alluring features. In contrast to web2, which encourages careless data sharing and exploitation for profit, web3 gives users ownership and control over their own data. Self-sovereign identification (SSI), which centers information control around the individual and eliminates the need to store personal data exclusively on a central database, makes this possible.
Users of web3 have access control, but they also have control over how they appear online, notably in the metaverse. They can be anything they want because they are not constrained by the rules of physics. They can appear as human or as alien as they wish, as cisgender or as non-binary as they feel, and they can rock authentic Gucci handbags or perennially flame hair. Everyone benefits from having this kind of creative and expressive freedom, and it advances identity politics and DEI&A. On the seedier end, though, it might also imply that someone can conceal themselves under anonymity. Under the wrong hands, something that is meant to empower and protect some people can become predatory to others. Similar to web1, the predators are now anonymous. However, they are dressed better this time.
Problem 2: Social Curation and Data Persistence
When a relationship ended, do you still recall being able to delete your ex from your social media feed and deny they ever existed in web2? There are many things Taylor Swift and The Weeknd are capable of, but in web3, removing their ex-boyfriend from their Instagram feed after a split is not one of them. Or perhaps you formerly followed someone on Facebook, like Lou Bega, and have now outgrown the Mambo No. 5? You can't just click "Unfollow," kid!
Everything that is recorded and kept in your web3 digital wallet or ledger is permanent. Additionally, altering any records is not possible. This implies that users are less inclined to upload OOTDs and odd musings to web3. Content will be more meticulously cultivated and calculated than in Martha Stewart's peach orchard. The stakes are just a lot higher now, so people will be warier and less willing to engage. Additionally, those who do so will be putting on a considerably bigger act.
Concern #3: Social Anxiety and Safety
By 2026, 25% of people will spend more than an hour each day in the metaverse, according to the World Economic Forum. Cyberattacks are anticipated to become more severe and frequent as digital commerce in the metaverse expands in breadth and scale—some estimates put it at up to US$1 trillion in annual sales. Many people have already been duped by deep fake phishing scams (impersonating popular companies and avatars), bitcoin theft, and NFT fraud, not to mention being the target of racial and sexual harassment. How many of us felt briefly uneasy when watching prominent YouTuber Ryan Trahan explore the metaverse? It was all at once unsettling, fascinating, and melancholy.
One should anticipate growing paranoia when engaging in commercial and social activities on web3 if web3 governance, such as regulatory actions or methods to prevent cybercrimes without compromising people's privacy, is not established.
Concern #4: Social Inequality and Accessibility
Most people today immediately think of NFTs and the metaverse when they think of web 3. Both online and offline, any of those can be communities that can be transformed into a sort of social media. Already, NFT communities are organizing their own events in the real world, such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club. However, it is a community of rich and bored Simians, which is paradoxical given that Web3 was designed to be a democratic platform but has instead grown somewhat exclusive.
How does the metaverse fare? It's possible that folks without access to expensive specialized equipment, such as VR headsets, smart glasses, and haptic suits, won't benefit as much from their experience as those who can. When the level of interaction is mostly influenced by disposable wealth and privilege, how do these media formats subsequently become really social? Are we fostering more interpersonal harmony? Or pushing them apart even more?
What Steps Can We Take to Win the Web 3 Social Media Game?
Social media as we know it now will disappear. I've said it now (again). We are already observing certain migration trends (hi, Meta! ) as web2 social heavyweights are figuring out how to incorporate their web2 capabilities into web3. Twitter, I see you), but it's likely that they will still be web2. Web3 businesses will gradually learn to integrate social features into their offers. Web3 won't take the place of Web2, but rather the two will coexist for a little longer. People can continue to use web2 to communicate with their current network of friends, relatives, coworkers, and acquaintances if they wish to do so. Web3 users are likely to create new networks based on what they like rather than who they know. Well, similar to Web 1! (Isn't that the jest of the cosmos.)
How can you use web3 to foster community and take advantage of social opportunities? Is community still important in a world dominated by transactions? The following advice will help you win the web3 social media game.
Rule #1: Add Value
When something is about value, it feels less transactional. For seasoned marketers, this should be simple. Provide remedies for issues and difficulties (both big and small) while preserving the customer's finite resources (time, money, psychological and physical capacity). Encourage feelings of control, safety, security, and confidence. Give them motivation, pride, a sense of community, and approval. Give them something to engage in that will make them want to leave their safe haven, not with your goods but rather with examples from your experiences. Because they have the ability to unite people and foster tighter relationships, they make your brand stand out.
Tip #2: Follow Your Interests
In this whole new frontier, this is how people will find you. Web3's decentralized structure will allow people with similar interests to band together to build "moving castles." When constructing your web3 community, be sure to create, import, and organize composable elements (such as avatars, props, and surroundings) together as a coherent whole while making these parts accessible for others to reuse and change. Considering that Web3 is an open platform with naturally occurring communities. Interoperability is the goal. You can interact with other communities as a result of this. Help other communities develop their own moving castles with their own lore, ecosystems, economics, and social currencies by interacting with them, playing with them, and sharing your knowledge and skills with them. Before you know it, they'll be able to share stories with you and about you.
Tip #3. Be Inclusive.
Accessibility and client satisfaction is superior to pricey bells and whistles like haptic suits. Be a moral company that grants everyone access. Maintain your DEI&A practice. Make an effort to install guardrails to protect user privacy while shielding them from predatory behavior. Keeping audience empathy will be more important than ever. Every audience.
Tip #4. Provide Offline Assistance
In web2, omnichannel is still very much a reality, and it will be in web3. The key to creating a powerful brand overall will still be expanding your reach, engagement, and exposure into offline channels. This can assist drive visibility to your web3 initiatives. It's understandable why the term "hybrid" is still frequently used.
Tip#5. Don't Give Up on Web2 Just Yet.
Duh. However, you should also keep an eye on the advancement of "SocialFi" (social media on the blockchain) sites like Chingari, Phaver, and Steemit. Since web3 is still in its infancy and individuals are still gaining their bearings, they haven't fully taken off yet. Who knows if one of them will eventually turn into the next Signal? Suppose they can get past the technobabble and persuade users to view value rather than transactions.
What, Then, is Social Media's Future in Web3?
Web3 social media website development will be a more decentralized ecosystem of micro-communities that are disaggregated and supported by independent tokens, blockchain, NFTs, and FTs. Transactions might rule the roost in this brand-new Wild West of the internet. But isn't every online and offline interaction we have a transaction in and of itself? A time, friendship, and affection exchange. Just recently, people have begun to assign a monetary value to it. However, if you believe the proverb "time is money," it only encourages us to be much more deliberate about where, with whom, and how we spend our time online.
Aside from that, don't phrase like "open frontiers," "moving tribes," "the yearning for belonging and camaraderie," "trade and bartering," "socialism," and "lawlessness" resemble the environment in which our ancestors lived as cavepeople? The more things change, the more they remain the same, as the saying goes. Ish. The only difference is that this time, we all have better manicures and use much finer tools.