web3 social networks might sound like a gimmicky idea.
But they're actually wildly important.
Here's why... š§µ š
1. Data Portability
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In web2, data is owned by the company.
In web3, data is owned by the user (you!).
twitter.com/shivsakhuja/status/1537271370999922688
The best explanation of this is @cdixon's thread on web3 data portability.
twitter.com/cdixon/status/1479920741768261633
Why is data portability valuable for social networks?
1. Social relationships (followers, friends, subscribers, clients, etc) are owned by you
2. Your content & data is owned by you
3. Content, data, and social relationships are immutable & platform agnostic
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Some examples to illustrate data portability in web3 vs web2...
twitter.com/shivsakhuja/status/1554332636281065472
But data portability isn't the only reason why decentralized social is valuable.
2. Openness / Transparency
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web2 social data and algorithms are completely opaque.
We have NO idea what data these companies collect, nor do we know how the algorithms work.
Even engineers in these companies don't know how the algorithms truly work.
twitter.com/desoprotocol/status/1557389233270075393?s=20
web3 is built on the principles of openness and transparency.
Creating an open social graph (@LensProtocol) is a massive stepping stone towards a truly transparent internet.
@desoprotocol also has the same ethos - all of DeSo's code and data are open and stored on-chain.
3. Take-Rate
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web3 networks are better for creators because of the "take-rate".
Since web2 social networks own your data & followers, they "take" a big % of creator earnings.
ā¢ YouTube takes 45% of revenue from user-generated content.
ā¢ IG, Twitter, TikTok take 100%!
Music is another clear example.
There are over 8M artists on streaming platforms, but less than 0.2% earn > $50k/year.
In web3, creators can make a lot more because they won't be subject to extortionary take rates.
twitter.com/shivsakhuja/status/1533812519542071298?s=20
Once again, no one explains this better than @cdixon:
twitter.com/cdixon/status/1425645842552086532?s=20
See my illustrated thread on web2 vs web3 to understand why web3 has some clear advantages over web2.
twitter.com/shivsakhuja/status/1537271343292354560
In web2, a few dominant players own user-generated content:
ā¢ FB / IG own image-sharing.
ā¢ YouTube owns video.
ā¢ TikTok / IG own short-form video.
ā¢ Twitter owns short-form text.
ā¢ FB owns chat. (WhatsApp, Messenger)
ā¢ LinkedIn owns professional.
Creators are completely at the mercy of these platforms.
This is why you see so many creators building newsletters and trying to cross-pollinate their followers to multiple platforms.
The paranoid YouTuber, always afraid of getting de-platformed, is almost a cliche.
Speaking of which - I'd like to do some cross-pollination too, so subscribe to my newsletter for weekly digests of the most important stuff happening in crypto š
getrevue.co/profile/shivsak
If you're not a creator, you may not recognize the power of the platform, but web2 social media companies hold enormous power.
twitter.com/WuBlockchain/status/1519498662208225280?s=20&t=5o4QqgMyG8aeZKUeZEtsmQ
Imagine that you own a business that relies on social media marketing (as most do today).
Getting de-platformed or deprioritized by the algo-gods (i.e - Silicon Valley tech bros) is a kiss of death.
Creators are even more vulnerable to this, and there are over 50M globally.
This happened to @BanklessHQ's YouTube channel as well.
twitter.com/BanklessHQ/status/1523317593947353089?s=20&t=2fF62D5QHXLiLlG4-RwakA
One key player in the decentralized social space is @LensProtocol, which describes itself as:
"a permissionless, composable & decentralized social graph that makes building a Web3 social platform easy."
Social graph ā social network.
Think of a social graph as a web3 base layer for social relationships that anyone can build on top of.
Example use cases:
ā¢ Devs can build decentralized social networks on top of Lens.
ā¢ Governance and collaboration tools for DAOs built on top of Lens' open social graph.
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@LensProtocol was founded by @StaniKulechov, who is also a founder of @AaveAave, one of the top lending protocols in the DeFi space.
Having a web3 founder who has successfully created a useful non-ponzi, multi-billion $ project gets you an A+ for "Team" on my scorecard.
Btw - I have no investment in or affiliation to Lens Protocol - just sharing research about an interesting protocol I've been reading about recently.
LensProtocol isn't the only one solving this problem.
@desoprotocol (DeSo) is working on a similar concept. They're building a decentralized blockchain built to scale decentralized social applications to one billion users.
200+ apps have already been built on DeSo.
I'll be deep-diving into this and other web3 disruptors in the coming weeks - stay tuned!
Follow me @shivsakhuja for insights into crypto projects that can change the world.
I don't do fluff, TA, promos, or price predictions - only fundamentals.
You might also enjoy my thread about the properties of NFTs (and by extension web3) that explains what makes the technology so disruptive.
twitter.com/shivsakhuja/status/1554332563916742656