WEB3.0 Culture Wars
Web3 is going mainstream. And that means a culture war is about to begin
As Web3 communities begin to enter the mainstream, the organic, open-source, decentralized, anti-establishment, altruistic, etc. culture of web3 is going to be threatened by some of the more toxic parts of corporate and commodified society. We are on the cusp of a culture war. I like quoting the example of Instagram when it first started. Initially, it brought together a super authentic, organic culture of indie-photographers. Phone cameras were just beginning to emerge, and Instagram was a technology that democratized photography as an art and brought passionate people together. Today, the words “authentic” and “Instagram” almost can’t exist on the same sentence anymore. As the technology became more mainstream, brands and companies seeking to exploit us began skewing what the original purpose of Instagram was. Brands wielded Instagram as a way to prey on human insecurity through warped beauty standards, clout, “influence”, aesthetic curation: all things that veered away from the original purpose of bringing people together. A centralized platform allowed these exploits to get away; in fact, Instagram catered to this commodification and exploitation of users because it contributed to their bottom line.
With web3, there’s a culture that exists amongst early adopters, but it would be naive to think this won’t be challenged as the technology becomes mainstream. Brands are slow to adapt, but they will. (UPDATE: check out McDonalds’ NFTs for some dsytopian shit). Instead of letting the same exploitation ensue, we can leverage something we have never had before: coordinated, grassroots power strengthened by web3.
I want each hydrant holder to commit to upholding and fighting this battle to keep web3.0 a positive space. This means choosing the right decisions for yourself. Putting your foot forward and setting an example.
There are reasons to believe this change is possible
Web3 allows niche to scale.
Social entrepreneurship and “doing good” often feels like a niche. This network of hydrants is a chance to reignite the faith in humanity and make this culture the de facto attitude towards making. We want benevolence to win out. There’s this distinct proverb I think I learned back in high school economics class: “It’s not from the benevolence of the butcher that we get our dinner but from their regard to their own interest”. Perhaps that may hold true to an extent, but what if we changed that and focused on uplifting all of humanity through selflessness. Imagine an army of people across the Web3.0 landscape all seeking to promote and advocate for better use of technology and systems.
Web3 avatars can hold value as cultural symbols
Web3.0 is being dominated by avatars. And I believe it’s finally time for avatars to become mainstream. Sci-fi has explored the beauty of avatars a lot (envision Ready Player One), and the advantages of web3.0 will allow us to create avatar networks that more clearly reveal our diversity and sub-cultures.
There will be DAOs for everything
What is key is that we build systems that allow DAOs to truly remain decentralized and equitable. Current token governance is flawed and there needs to be ways for anyone to contribute to the shared values and resources of a community. Truly representational governance that takes into account “proportional effort” and not “wealth” (e.g. someone who is rich can invest more money in a community, but that doesn’t always correlate with their relative passion and intention). If we want to let grassroots technology thrive, we need to promote governance models that reward contribution and passion. More on that here.
Web3 might be the start of the biggest digital divide we’ve ever seen
The hydrant network is committed to making web3 more accessible, using web3 to build tools for everyone, and bringing all perspectives to the decentralized table. Hydrants want to introduce new people to web3.0 and help ease the transition.
Web3 is an unprecedented global melting pot
As web3.0 grows, there’s going to be a new global culture that will mix together. We cannot permit the colonization of other cultures by a dominant western force. Instead, web3 can enable the sustained growth of infinitely diverse and micro-sub-cultures.