Web 3.0: Reformation of online communities
Web 3.0: Reformation of online communities
Community Assemble is a bi-weekly newsletter about creating and growing communities that add value to both customers and brands the right way. We feature tweets, quotes, blogs, and ideas from our experts and various community leaders across the globe.
As much as we all love listening to the news to keep ourselves updated, sometimes it can be all too overwhelming! It feels like everything is too fast-moving for us to even keep up with the pace! These days there is an explosion of blockchain news that leaves us thinking, “what’s going on here? What are all these futuristic terms?”
When we hear about the web and the internet, all we hear is the transition from web 2.0 to Web 3.0! What’s interesting is how quickly this concept escalated! When I looked into what was the backbone of this massive transition, guess what came up? Their massive community-building process!
Web3 has brought the essence and value of community building into the spotlight. The most successful blockchains, DAOs, NFT projects, and decentralized marketplaces all have one thing in common. They are all powered by communities.
Wait, before we get into the details, let’s understand what these terms actually mean.
What is web 3.0?
The Web 3.0 definition can be expanded as follows:
Data that are interconnected in a decentralised manner where data is mostly stored in centralised repositories.
Web 3.0 represents the next phase of the evolution of the internet and potentially could represent as huge a paradigm shift as Web 2.0 previously did. Web 3.0 is built with the cornerstone pillars of decentralization, openness, and greater user privacy
The three main foundation pillars of Web 3.0 are Artificial intelligence ( AI), IoT(Internet of things), and blockchain technology.
1. Blockchain will mainly help in achieving decentralized data
2. AI will help filter online data and offer the most relevant choices to users.
3. IoT will help the interoperability layer of Web 3.0 to connect the internet to smart devices.
A simple example of this kind of experience is when a user comes across the auto-suggestion of recommending similar items to buy on e-commerce platforms like amazon that shoppers with similar purchase profiles have bought. However, the above approach benefits the internet controlling agencies and makes them the owner of the user's data which is then sold to third-party advertisers for their benefits , since eventually leads to misusing the private data of users. But with Web 3.0 this entire process would be reversed by making the users sole owners of their data,
What is blockchain technology and how is it related to web 3.0?
Blockchain stores information electronically in digital format. Blockchains are best known for their crucial role in cryptocurrency systems, such as Bitcoin, for maintaining a secure and decentralized record of transactions.
Web3 is the name some technologists have given to the idea of a new kind of internet service that is built using decentralized blockchains — the shared ledger systems used by cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
So to sum it all up, web 3.0 is built on blockchain technology and the crypto space is run on these very web 3.0 applications.
Now one last important aspect of the entire web 3.0 space is “NFT”!
What is an NFT anyway?
NFT stands for Non-fungible token. “Non-fungible” means that it is unique and can’t be replaced with anything else. NFTs typically give the holder ownership over the data, media, or object the token is associated with, and are commonly bought and sold on specialized marketplaces.
In simple terms, NFTs are blockchain-based digital items whose units are designed to be unique, unlike traditional cryptocurrencies whose units are interchangeable. For example, a bitcoin is fungible — you can always trade one for another bitcoin, but an NFT is like a one-of-a-kind trading card, If you traded it for a different card, you’d have something else altogether.
How can Web 3.0 make use of Online communities?
It is interesting is know that the web 3.0 world is (Crypto and NFT space) leveraging the power of online communities.
With web 3.0, the word of the hour is “Community.”
Communities create real value for web 3.0 communities. They promote authentic connections and give the opportunity to be part of a shared idea or interest giving complete control to the user. Web3 communities provide a framework for members to contribute to what is being built and to benefit from its success. In turn, community members act as a viral marketing mechanism fast-forwarding the growth of the community.
The core pillars of web3 are:
1) disintermediation - taking away the middle-man by enabling true peer-to-peer social and transactional relationships.
2) meritocracy - rewarding people based on their actual contributions, both financially and through social recognition.
Let’s take a look at how the leverage the power of communities:
Multi-Platform Community Building
Web3 communities use both public and private platforms (usually Twitter and private dedicated forums) to express their vision, share announcements and attract new members. Communication on this channel is about bringing people together, creating interest and encouraging people to join the community’s primary platforms (social media and dedicated community platforms such as Vanilla Forums, Glynk and Tribe).
The majority of community interactions are happening on such platforms. Platforms like Twitter and Discord allows members to interact and establish a good network, whereas dedicated community platforms such as Tribe and Glynk allows community managers to create an efficient, productive, organized structure for communication. Forums help people connect, ideate and learn from each other, while keeping themselves updated about information in the relevant space. Automated messages and other tools can be used to streamline the experience of new users coming into the space.
New users are greeted and given information about how the space is organized. Channels for topics should be picked and used to promote resourceful information. User experience is key. The faster a new user starts to engage with others in the forum, the more likely they are to stick around and contribute to the community.
Efficient Storytelling
Web3 communities are brought to life by effective storytelling of the product roadmap. The story paints a picture of what the community might accomplish together, how the product will take shape and what problems it will solve for the users. The story gives life to the product and attracts individuals who feel aligned with it’s vision and purpose.
“NFT projects are the perfect intersection of storytelling and community building.”
There’s nowhere in the web3 space where this is more apparent than NFTs. NFT projects are the perfect intersection of storytelling and community building. If a team can craft a story that creates a strong connection with even a small group, a minimum viable community can grow very quickly around that story.
Transparency in Product Development
Keeping your community engaged means keeping them informed on the improvements of the project/product. Successful Web3 projects typically maintain and update a public roadmap showing near-term and long-term goals.
Community Participation
It’s not enough just to be transparent. Building an engaged Web3 community requires creating a structure for community members to actively contribute to the product and ongoing projects.
Many successful web3 communities have a dedicated platform to scale their community and engage their users. The process of building a community for users with a shared purpose creates strong bonds between members. Their potential to make the product go viral and also help improve the product through user feedback makes them a very powerful tool for the company’s growth.
Snippets of the week:
Community of the week:
Boss Beauties is an NFT community focused on empowering girls and women at the forefront of technology, leadership and creativity. The project’s art is aligned with the idea that a woman can be anything that she wants. It is a woman-led global initiative that creates opportunities for girls and women through collaborations.
Top resources we found super interesting about web 3.0 and community building:
This article written by David Dvoskin speaks about NFTs and how communities are the secret to the success of NFTs.
This article gives a review of the NFT market report of 2021, and its pros and cons.
Written by Nuala Cronin this article speaks about how NFTs can be used as reward systems to encourage more member participation in communities
This article written by Rohit Malekar speaks about the power and impact of online communities in the web 3.0 world in the most non-technical manner. Super fun read!
This insightful article speaks about the importance of having creator communities in the web 3.0 world.
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