ONE BILLION ROBOT USERS

MAINSTREAM ADOPTION IS AN OUTCOME. BUILDING FOR A SPECIFIC OUTCOME IS FUNDAMENTALLY UNSOUND PRACTICE IN ANY ENDEAVOR. BUILDING PROCESSES WILL ALWAYS BE MORE MEANINGFUL. PRAXIS.
IN 2021 WE WERE A YEAR INTO A LIFE ALTERING PANDEMIC THAT PUSHED SOCIALIZATION ONTO THE INTERNET. I BECAME CURIOUS ABOUT THE BOUNDS OF DISEMBODIED IDENTITY AND EXPRESSION. TOKENIZED MEDIA EMERGED ALLOWING FOR VERIFIABLE PUBLIC LEDGERS TO MOVE CAPITAL, MEDIA AND SOCIALIZATION AROUND THE INTERNET. SQUADS WITH BANK ACCOUNTS. THERE WAS A CLEAR LOGIC HIDING UNDER THE ‘PFP’ BUBBLE. TOKEN GATED DISCORDS. GROUPS HYPING UP ART PROJECTS IN TWITTER SPACES. THERE WERE BAD ACTORS. THERE WERE ALSO DIGITAL ARTISTS FINDING MARKETS FOR THEIR WORK FOR THE FIRST TIME. IT WAS CHAOTIC. IT WAS A CASINO. IT WAS FRENETIC ENOUGH TO GIVE US ALL CONVICTION THAT SOMETHING MEANINGFUL WAS BEING BUILT.
THE CRISIS WE ARE CURRENTLY FACING IS UNFORTUNATELY NOT COSMETIC. CHANGING OUR NOMENCLATURE OR IMPROVING THE USER INTERFACE WILL NOT FIX ANY OF THE BROKEN FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR INDUSTRY. THERE IS A NARRATIVE VACUUM AT THE CENTER OF TOKENIZED MEDIA. I DON’T THINK DIALING IN THE FEE STRUCTURE WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON THIS ISSUE. I DO BELIEVE THAT PRESENTING A SOUND REASON TO TOKENIZE MEDIA IS THE ONLY WAY FORWARD.
I HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY CYNICAL ABOUT ORGANIC PLATFORM VOLUME; TOOLS LIKE BOOST.XYZ AND ‘MINT RACES’ MAKE IT CLEAR THAT A GREAT DEAL OF VOLUME IS DRIVEN BY BOTS OR USERS BEING INCENTIVIZED TO BEHAVE LIKE BOTS. IF YOU BUILD FOR AN OUTCOME (VOLUME OR ADOPTION) AT ANY COST, YOU CAN EASILY FIND YOURSELF OVERLOOKING THE FLAWS IN YOUR PROCESS. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE IS A SORT OF CONCEPTUAL LAZINESS COMBINED WITH RISK ADVERSITY THAT CAUSES CAPITAL TO AVOID EVALUATING THE GLARING HOLES IN THE LOGIC OF THIS INDUSTRY THAT ARE APPARENT TO EVERYONE OUTSIDE OUR BUBBLE.

I DO NOT THINK THAT INSERTING BLOCKCHAINS INTO FAMILIAR USER EXPERIENCES WITHOUT MEANINGFULLY IMPROVING THE FUNDAMENTAL EXPERIENCES BEING DELIVERED IS A MEANINGFUL INNOVATION. THIS IS AN INTELLECTUALLY LAZY EXERCISE THAT MIRRORS THE “UBER FOR BLANK” PHENOMENON. SWITCHING COSTS ARE HIGH. DECENTRALIZATION BEGS FOR AMBITIOUS USE CASES THAT GO FARTHER THAN WHAT WEB2 HAS BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE. BUILDING BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF WHAT CURRENTLY EXISTS IS A FUNDAMENTAL TENANT OF MEANINGFUL INNOVATION. BLOCKCHAINS CAN DO THIS BUT THEY NEED AMBITIOUS THINKERS TO APPLY THE TECH IN NEW WAYS.

(GOOD) ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS ARE CREATURES OF CONVICTION. WE MAINTAIN PRACTICES IN THE FACE OF OVERWHELMING FINANCIAL OBSTACLES AND STUBBORNLY RELEASE WORK INTO MARKETPLACES THAT REFUSE TO ADEQUATELY VALUE THE TIME AND ENERGY WE PUT INTO OUR CRAFT. WHEN WE BELIEVE IN SOMETHING, WE BELIEVE DURING GOOD AND BAD MARKET CONDITIONS ALIKE. THERE IS A PROFOUND FEELING OF THRASH IN THE CULTURAL COMMUNITY OF WEB3 AS THE LOGIC OF THE SPACE RAPIDLY ALIGNS ITSELF IN FORM AND SUBSTANCE WITH FAMILIAR PLATFORMS & PARADIGMS LIKE INSTAGRAM. THE USERS THAT ARE HERE ARE BEING ALIENATED TO ATTRACT USERS WHO WILL NEVER COME AS LONG AS OUR LOGIC IS INCOHERENT. WE NEED CONSISTENT MENTAL MODELS ABOUT WHAT THIS TECHNOLOGY IS GOOD FOR.
NO WEB3 PLATFORM SHOULD BE INSTAGRAM WITH A BETTER VIBE. IF WE VIEW OUR MISSION AS PUTTING LIPSTICK ON A PIG WE HAVE ALREADY LOST. AS OUR INDUSTRY MATURES, WE ARE BRINGING IN PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT CONCEPTUALLY GRAPPLED WITH THE IMPLICATIONS OF DECENTRALIZATION. CONSEQUENTLY, THEY BELIEVE THIS TECHNOLOGY IS A COMPLICATED SHELL GAME AND CONDUCT THEMSELVES ACCORDINGLY. IF WE BELIEVE IN DECENTRALIZATION, WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IGNORING ITS APPLICATIONS & IMPLICATIONS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO FATALLY IMPACT OUR INDUSTRY.

CURIOSITY IS A NECESSARY COMPONENT OF IMAGINATION.