How Social Media Is Changing From Web2 To Web3

In this guest post, Codi Agency, Lisnic.com and Mooning founder Lisa Teh (main photo) discusses the internet’s next step to Web3 and the implications it’ll have for marketers…

Ever since Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook were changing their name to Meta, it signaled that the next generation of the internet (Web3), is officially here.

WHAT EXACTLY IS WEB3?

To understand Web3, you need to understand Web1 and Web2.

Web1 is the original form of the internet (remember the challenges of dial-up?) which was originally designed to distribute information in a decentralised way. This issue was there was no focus around security of information so everything was infinitely copyable. It was also very hard to share content unless you knew how to code. This meant there was more of a focus around information consumption rather than creation and dissemination at scale.

Enter Web2. Web2 saw the introduction of social media. It made it easy for people to create and share content, not just consume it. Web2 was built around companies that provide services in exchange for your personal data (e.g. Google, Instagram, Facebook). The fatal flaw with a model like this is that you have to give up control to a single actor for it to be most effective. The unfortunate byproduct of this is that it gives rise to monopolies and power imbalances.

Web2 also saw the creation of influencers who were paid money to promote brands. Social media made it easy for people to create and share content and as a result, build followings. Prior to this only celebrities were paid for endorsements.

Web3 is all about the decentralisation of the internet. Rather than consumers using free platforms in exchange for their data, users can participate in the governance and operation of the protocols themselves in Web3. This means by utilising technology like blockchain (which as its core is a digital ledger), people can become participants and shareholders, not just customers.

Now before you fall asleep, don’t worry, I’m not going to delve into the technicalities of Web3 or we’d be here all day.

The key thing to understand about Web3 is that it’s helping put power back in the hands of creators through technology like non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which can see creators get royalties directly from their work.

It is also going to see the development of the metaverse which, through technology like augmented and virtual reality, will give rise to a whole new level of experiences in the digital world.

From an influencer perspective, rather than just promote brands, influencers will become the brands themselves. This will allow them to more directly monetise their audiences through technology like NFTs.

SOCIAL MEDIA – WEB2 VS WEB3

The evolution of Web3 has already seen a change in how brands are approaching social media.

Social media strategy in Web2 focused on brands posting content on their social channels. Sometimes the community would engage with the content and sometimes the brand would engage back. There was little to no engagement between community members following the brand on social media.

If you aren’t engaging with your brand, it’s not social media, it’s just media. Unfortunately a lot of brands are guilty of this and it’s not going to fly in Web3.

In Web3, content as we know it almost takes a backseat. The MVP content in Web3 is the conversation. Not just between brands and their community, but between members of the community themselves.

Brands have a unique opportunity to not only interact more closely with their customers, but they can become the conduit that facilitates interaction between members of their community.

PLATFORM & CONTENT STRATEGY – WEB2 VS WEB3

This increase in community engagement has resulted in some interesting changes in social media usage by brands and Web3 projects.

Facebook and Instagram have long been favoured as the main platforms of choice by brands. However, there have been a few factors which have resulted in Twitter and Discord being adopted as the unofficial platforms of choice for Web3.

Firstly, Instagram and Facebook are both currently pay to play platforms, i.e. there is minimal organic reach on the platforms, making it hard for new brands or NFT projects in particular to build engagement and followers.

Instagram and Facebook also attract a very mainstream audience who are skeptical of crypto and most likely have no idea what an NFT is. This means, if you are executing a social strategy on these platforms (and I would add TikTok into this mix, although there is still plenty of organic reach still on TikTok), it should focus on education. You’re going to have to teach your audience about what web3 is, what the metaverse is, how to set up and connect a crypto wallet, etc.

If you want to market to a more crypto native audience, your attention should be on Twitter and Discord. Both of these platforms are structured to facilitate more conversation, which is particularly important when you are venturing into Web3 given how new the technology is and how high the chances are that something will go wrong. For example, if you’ve planned an NFT drop and something doesn’t work, you suddenly might have thousands of people from around the world needing a place to see what’s going on and ask questions. Platforms like Instagram simply aren’t set up to manage a barrage of ongoing conversation.

This is where platforms like Twitter and Discord come into play. Given Twitter’s conversational feed style format, it has become a hub for crypto chat and a place where people flex their NFT creds and purchases.

Discord, a social media platform more traditionally used for gamers has become a community center for brands and projects looking to manage their followers, particularly around the time of NFT drops. It allows brands or projects to set up different arms so they can filter their audience into different sections in their channel. This allows for more tailored content and discussion. It’s forum style chat function also makes it easy for community members to engage with each other.

This has created an interesting benefit for brands and projects. Having a community that is hyper engaged with each other means they will help brands carry the support load. Engaged existing members will start welcoming new members to the community and answering their questions. This takes the pressure off brands to moderate everything, particularly in the event things go wrong (and trust me, in this new version of the internet everything is still so new, so if you aren’t delaying your launch or having something crash, are you even doing Web3 at all?).

Both platforms however, are still Web2 platforms. Twitter is working on gradual Web3 integration, such as the recent introduction of the ability to verify ownership of your NFT if you are using it as your profile picture but it’s not a true Web3 solution.

Discord definitely doesn’t have Web3 integration on the roadmap anytime in the near future if the response to CEO Jason Citron’s tweet about crypto wallet integration in November last year was anything to go by. His tweet had a mock up of Discord linking to MetaMask and WalletConnect, with the caption “probably nothing”, a common slang phrase in the crypto world that means it’s probably something (if trying to understand blockchain wasn’t bad enough, wait till you delve into all the Web3 slang. It’s hard to tell if something is a typo or an acronym). The Discord audience absolutely cracked it and so Citron quickly backtracked saying they would focus more on stopping scams first before even thinking about Web3 integration.

Discord also has the worst UX/UI of any of the major social platforms. The onboarding process is extremely complex. You thought understanding crypto was hard, trying signing up for Discord and trying to get yourself verified in a channel. The platform is also victim to a lot of hacks, so you need to make sure your community is educated to pretty much ignore their DMs, or they could have their crypto wallets completely drained.

So what does this mean for you? If you want to genuinely enter the world of Web3, look at getting active on Discord and Twitter. Having an engaged crypto native audience will give you some quick wins. Then make sure you educate your mainstream audience. Take them on the journey with you as to make the crazy ride into Web3. Afterall, new experiences are more fun when you have people to share it with.

WAGMI! (To save you Googling it, it’s crypto slang for “we’re all going to make it”. And if all embrace the potential of Web3, we certainly will.