Original post by DAOctor @DAOrayaki.org
Original title: Unpacking Web3 Social
Over the next few years, consumer social apps utilizing crypto-native rails will rise. Every major technological wave has spawned a new set of social applications. Web3 Social promises a decentralized, open model where users own their identities, data, and content created for applications and protocols. So, what will this new model look like? Interpret the historical origins, ongoing changes and challenges of web3 social networking with DAOrayaki.
The historical origin of Web3 social
As Andrew Chen explains in his excellent book The Cold Start Problem, new technologies enable new consumer behaviors. He cites the shift from desktop apps (such as Microsoft Office) to web-based products (such as Google Suite, Notion, Airtable), dating sites (such as Match) to mobile apps (such as Tinder) with easy-to-use, swipeable interfaces , and the shift from photo-sharing sites like Flickr to photo-sharing apps like Instagram.
This pattern can also be seen across the social media landscape.
Desktop native experience (late 1990s to 2000s)
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In 2004, Facebooks home page
Mobile-first experience (2010s)
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BeReals more casual take on Instagram (Source: WWD)
Blockchain-driven experience (next 3-5 years)
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Perl, an application that emerged from Farcaster
Unlock new behaviors with blockchain-enabled social experiences
So far, the transformation of Web3 is not new to end users. Why would I build a new one from scratch if I already built an influential following? Or, why should I migrate to a new platform if the algorithm already curates the content I most want to see? To succeed, the new social graph will need to spawn a new killer app.
This is not the same gameplay as previous social media successes have created.
(1) Capture small, dense communities with novel experiences; and
(2) Scale up the network using the original social graph.
Alternatively, future social applications may still be small communities connected by an open protocol. As Packy McCormick writes in Nothing But Magic:"By energizing the magic of small communities and allowing founders to decide who gets into their communities based on whats in their wallets, these small social apps, taken together, could steal time and attention from Twitter, the once Wonder product seems to be so entrenched that its hard to beat it alone."
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digital assets
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digital activity
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digital affiliation
So far, Telegram and Discord have become the main hubs for the NFT and DAO communities. However, they are not designed for Web3 use cases and are full of scams and bots. Im bullish on the development of alternative platforms for secure chat with features suitable for Web3 (eg wallet-to-wallet messaging, authenticated identity, token gating). Many players are jumping at this opportunity - from one-to-one messaging (eg, XMTP, Console, Tribes, Dialect, Lines, Comm) to community infrastructure (eg, GM.xyz, Geneva, Bonfire, Backdrop).
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Web3 Music Community on GM.xyz
Challenges for Web3 Social Platforms
privacy
privacy
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Safety
Safety
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Yakoas NFT Fraud Solution
user experience
Web3 is notoriously clunky and unintuitive for newbies. Startups are seizing the opportunity to make the onboarding of dapps and decentralized wallets more consumer-friendly (e.g., Magic, Slide). Social apps also need to balance decentralization considerations with ease of use. For example, Farcaster’s naming registry is on-chain, but the rest of the messaging protocol is off-chain to improve user experience and scalability. Additionally, many Web3 applications are desktop-first or desktop-only. This limits user adoption, as mobile devices account for more than half of all internet usage, and emerging technologies such as AR and VR are growing.
