Web3 and Media

Defining web 3, @andy_matuschak says: "This is a sort of counter-intuitive definition given the emphasis on decentralization, but it helps me understand one facet: imagine that all web sites and databases and accounts and services are running on one shared server, and anyone can program it."

-Management: blockchain simplifies monetization, payments, and rights management

And pay attention to the wallet. The wallet is more than a place for digital money. It's a foundation of identity. It will become an important connection to authenticated media experiences.

-Creation: more tools and better economics empower individual creators

For many media brands, the creator economy presents a conundrum — what is the role of brand when audiences increasingly value the intimacy of a direct connection to a human creator?

Sam Lessin: Web 3.0 is — at the most abstract level — really about right-sizing communities to a scale people can have a sense of personal purpose and place. It is about giving people ownership in meaningful way in the context of the people they want to be with and impressively extending that experience.

Joe Krause said: "The 20th Century was about dozens of markets of millions of consumers. The 21st Century is about millions of markets of dozens of consumers."

-Distribution: Pressure on platforms to improve transparency and economics. Data portability gives creators power.

For the time being, though, the bulk of users will continue to rely on the preëstablished attention economy for the bulk of their digital consumption. “Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, those are just as dominant as ever,” Jin said. “Today, no one finds a person on Patreon; you go there after you’ve found them.”

To make $1000 per month, a creator needs about 100K Instagram followers, 2M views monthly on YouTube or 25M on TikTok (New Creator Manifesto, 2021). Contrast this with platforms that provide a more competitive mechanism for creator monetization. Just over 200 subscribers on Substack, OnlyFans, Twitch or Patreon at $5 per month will yield the same $... See more