Searching for the ideal Web3 social media platform
The race is on to develop a Web3 social media platform that centers around our digital identity and allows for the perfect balance of monetization for the site and the user. Is this possible?
What are the components of an ideal social media platform?
Ease of use
The user experience is critical to the success and happiness of the user. Connecting a digital wallet to gain access easily is just one part.
Members need to be able to find answers, share their content and connect with others seamlessly and intuitively.
Take your followers, profile data, and content with you onto other platforms
If you have spent time and effort building a following on one social network, you want to avoid doing it again with another. Instead, we can take our content and followers to a new platform if we need a change.
By flipping our mindset, the focus will be more on the content creator than the platform.
Voice and a vote
Because these platforms are open-source and open-state, we can modify and build on top of them. It will be easier for developers to create these social networks; thus, the consumer will have more options and a say in what features they want.
With a voice and a vote, you have a say in the direction, and if you disagree, you can go elsewhere without the worry of starting all over.
With more options, we will have smaller social platforms that allow for more meaningful content that will resonate better with you.
Monetization opportunities that the creator controls
We all understand that all the "free" content on the internet comes at a price. That price is our data.
With Web3 platforms, people can create lockable content with access by paying for it or offering it at no cost. Content creators can offer different levels of membership. The more valuable the content, the more they will be able to charge.
As consumers, we must understand the reality of a future where we will be paying for content.
However, with blockchain technology, fewer intermediaries are involved in completing a transaction. This efficiency allows creators to charge less since most of the income goes to their bottom line.
By incentivizing the experience for everyone, we will enjoy higher quality and deeper connections.
Control over your data and content
With your own social identity, no one can take it from you or pretend to be you. With decentralized identifiers (DID), the content you post will match your private key.
Since a Web3 social platform doesn't own your data, you can take it anywhere without fear of being shut down or deleted.
Security
With a digital wallet, you no longer need to share all your personal information with every new platform you want to use.
Your credentials are private with a digital wallet; only pertinent information is shared. We won't need third parties to verify our identity.
Web3 also prevents data breaches and hacks. Web2 platforms contain all of our data, and we are at risk of having them hacked. With decentralization, protocols, and cryptography, more safeguards are in place.
Conclusion
While there are a lot of positives surrounding new Web3 social platforms, we know that there are some negatives as well.
Ease of use will be a struggle as we work through the beta testing and experimenting.
While it is great that we can be anonymous as we interact on these social platforms, that also raises some concerns. If people are up to no good, they will find a way to exploit and take advantage. It is a given.
That is why we need to increase awareness and education in this space. The more people who know and understand can create more ways to protect us and provide a positive and valuable experience.
Options to explore
Here are a few new Web3 social platforms that are under development. Which one will be the "best"? Who knows, but seeing how they develop over time will be fun.
Zion: Zion is an open global scalable decentralized community platform that facilitates transparent and direct flow of content and payments between creators and their audiences.
Coinmerge: A social network for crypto traders.
Lens: Lens Protocol is a composable and decentralized social graph, ready for you to build on so you can focus on creating a great experience, not scaling your users.
Galxe: Galxe is the leading Web3 credential data network in the world. A collaborative credential infrastructure enabling brands and developers to engage communities and build robust products in Web3.
CyberConnect: CyberConnect is a decentralized social graph protocol that helps decentralized applications (dApps) bootstrap network effects and builds personalized social experiences.
Farcaster: Farcaster is a sufficiently decentralized social network. It is an open protocol that can support many clients, just like email.
Wubits: Empowering the crypto community with Web3. Turn ideas into revenue. Discover, create, share, and get paid in crypto.
Phaver: Share-to-earn decentralized social platform. Join us in the communal garden of Lens protocol and build the digital roots together. Phaver DAO will share the ownership of the network with its community.
