With the arrival of Web3, brands are changing their social media strategy, and even more so with NFTs.
As Web 2.0 is properly the mobile and social media web generation, the question here is what will they turn into with Web3 and NFTs.
Social media from the Web3 perspective
On the surface, Web2 was a platform that made it easy for people to share and find information. But Web3 is doing things differently by letting creators get more control over their work. Web3 tends to change the way brands approach social media, content creation and people‘s ownership over their data. This new web generation can be used to leverage the power of digital assets or non–fungible tokens.
The next phase of this evolution will harness blockchain technology to help users own again their digital identity, earn for contributing content, which could change how brands interact with users. Web3 aims at favoring collaboration and encourages innovation, rather than one which is monopolized by big tech companies.
The evolution of Web3 has already seen a change in how brands are approaching social media. And this shift will have huge implications for social media strategy on the web as we know it today. In Web3, it is no longer just about broadcasting the brand message to the world. It’s about building a network of people who share the brand values and interests.
The evolution of Web3 has already seen a change in how brands are approaching social media. And this shift will have huge implications for social media strategy on the web as we know it today. In Web3, it is no longer just about broadcasting the brand message to the world. It’s about building a network of people who share the brand values and interests.
NFTs adoption by social media
NFTs are more than just collectibles. They can be displayed as profile pictures on social media, used for digital wallets purposes, or even build the user‘s virtual identity.
With NFTs, our digital identity will be the key to unlocking all kinds of opportunities. As blockchain technology becomes increasingly popular and the mentality of consumers changes towards collecting new digital assets, NFTs seem to have an important role in creating a new stage for interaction within the metaverse. Since the popularity of NFTs, lots of social media platforms have tried to implement NFTs in their applications.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have all rolled out NFTs as a new feature in their own applications and offer users new ways to interact with their collections. Meta wants to take a step further by allowing their users to directly create NFTs through its applications. For instance, it provides users with the ability to connect their crypto wallet to their Instagram or Facebook account, to make posts with the various NFTs they own.
On Twitter, users can put their NFTs as profile picture. There are however a few prerequisites: having a Twitter Blue account which should be running on an iOS device. There is of course the need to own a crypto wallet such as MetaMask or Coinbase to connect it to Twitter.
Nevertheless, these tech behemoths are quite far from what new web3 generation start–ups aim at providing. With Elon Musk recently striking a $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter, perhaps this social media platform will better meet the Web3 demands.
Web3 compels for others social media platforms
Even though Meta‘s social media darlings, a.k.a Facebook and Instagram have been chosen by brands for quite a long time, the Web3 standards are here to “make things happen“ in its favor. This resulted in the adoption of Discord and Twitter instead, as the best fit for Web3 social media.
NFTs struggle to find their place with Facebook and Instagram
Instagram and Facebook started out as the online forums of old, where users could discover, communicate and share with one another. Over time, they became more commercial, filling up with brands and developers eager to sell their products and services. And later, they were bought out by large corporations interested in harvesting users in order to profile them for advertisements.
But more than that, Facebook and Instagram are not fit for NFTs activation. The organic reach is quite low and the audience is not familiar with the crypto sphere. To launch a Web3 project on these social media platforms, brands will have to teach the users what NFTs or metaverses are, how to hold a wallet, or even how to buy and use a digital asset.
It will be about giving the followers all the tools they need to interact with future token–based products. Platforms like Instagram simply aren’t set up yet to manage a barrage of ongoing conversation.
However, launching an NFT activation on social media which public is already a Web3 regular could be easier. It is either relying on a native Discord community, or educating people outside the Discord platform to understand some Web3 hacks.
Twitter and Discord are the favorite platforms for NFTs in particular and Web3 in general.
Social media platforms such as Twitter and Discord are structured to facilitate more conversation and interaction, especially for Web3 projects. There are several reasons why Twitter and Discord are desirable for hosting NFT conversations: The chat feed on Twitter makes it easier to communicate in case of a matter, or the forum style chat Discord provides.
Discord is typically for gamers, community centered, and for brands willing to build a community around a Web3 project. It is structured to manage the audience and create different limbs within the same community. This fosters more customizable content and discussions among users and eases the engagement process.
The community, still and always
In the past 10 years, social media has been maturing on Web2 platforms. Now it is a matter of being a combination of both Web 2.0 and Web3. But communities still aren’t really running on Web3 platforms. They do however offer the ability for brands to connect with their users in a more unique way than traditional advertising does. User generated content and conversations, for instance, create opportunities for brands to share their messages with interested audiences without having to pay for advertisement space.
The biggest difference between Discord and other social media platforms is that it builds small, hyperactive communities. This has some big advantages for brands wanting to launch NFT a Web3 project. A super engaged community is a lever for brands to offload many responsibilities and to delegate.
Therefore, the welcoming and onboarding process won‘t be the brands responsibility anymore, but the engaged members instead. This creates a virtuous circle in which moderators become real deal advertisement for the brand.
This brings much more credibility to brands, because “it is better when other people speak well of your project than yourself“. And in case things go wrong, the hyper engaged community will reassure the new members before the brand speaks up.
Web3 is definitely the way forward, however there are still some kinks to be worked out on this new technology and platforms need to upgrade their systems to accommodate it. There are a lot of hoops to jump through like securing the site, connecting the crypto wallet, going through a lot of verification process over and over again.
Besides, Discord is not a Web 3 platform, it’s a Web 2 platform like Twitter. They lack the same decentralization and immutability that makes the blockchain so attractive. In Discord‘s case, for instance, there are other businesses and matters needed to be fixed before embarking crypto wallet directly, whether it is the scams, or the “not so“ friendly–user app.
There are new social media format to better fit with NFTs
A lot of crypto communities are moving from the traditional social media platforms to home–built Web3–based platforms. This has created a valuable benefit for projects and brands.
Crew³ is a web3 app that activates, grows and empowers Web3 communities:
- The automatic onboarding flow makes it easier for members to join communities. They can customize their profile using their digital assets.
- Users contributing the most are rewarded thanks to data-driven automation and visitors can be turned into active contributors.
- Users can easily join community hubs and reach to thousands of web3 members in Gaming, DeFi, Art, Music, Collectibles and more.
Perhaps new Web3 generation of social media will look more like this app than the ones we use in the Web 2.0, a great diversity in uses and the way for users to reach to others on the same space.
Digital disruption has changed the world as we know it. Web2 saw the rise of platforms and gave rise to companies having monetized users‘ personal data at scale. Web3 stands as a safe, fair and equitable internet. With METAV.RS, brands can transition smoothly from Web 2.0 to Web3 and provide users with a safer web space.
To learn more on Web transition to Web3 and how can brands answer the call, read 3 STEPS TO TRANSITION YOUR WEB2 BRAND TO WEB3
