If you had to encapsulate Web 3.0 in a tweet, what would it say?

"Web 1 is the ability to access things on the internet. Web 2 is the ability to add content to the internet & interact. Web 3 is about sharing assets & having ownership."

What makes Web 3.0 different? According to Fabric Ventures, it's:

• 'Open' in that anyone in the world can access and see records publicly
• 'Trustless' in that this internet allows users to interact publicly or privately without a trusted third party
• 'Permissionless' in that anyone, both users and suppliers, can participate without authorization from a governing body

Web1 is like going to a library and researching via the encyclopedia. Web2, in this analogy, is Wikipedia, where public users can submit information to help build the story, but the submissions are reviewed and can be approved or denied. Now, Web3 will show us a future where we can all write the definitions, but no third party is there to check the facts for us.

Web3 was discussed initially in one of our Insights emails. To learn more on how brands can better navigate the influencer space, sign up to Fohr CEO James Nord's weekly email here.

What's exciting about Web 3.0?

There is exciting potential for creators and influencers to build wealth together with ownership over the platforms and communities they lead. Creators are the backbone of success for the top social platforms, but wealth isn't distributed in any meaningful way. Creators are pushing back against this, and Web3 will see platforms and communities owned by the people leading and participating in them.

Diversified revenue streams are another exciting aspect. Web3 could give creators and influencers ways of monetizing outside of advertising. NFTs, tokens, or subscriptions give creators a chance to build lasting revenue streams instead of jumping from project to project.

The 'End of the Advertising World' webinar discussed how the power of a few now flows into the hands of many—for example, large record labels giving way to smaller artists discovered on sites like SoundCloud, YouTube, and Spotify—and how these shifting power dynamics affect the advertising industry.

How does Web 3.0 and its potential changes affect the influencer marketing industry?

Creator Predictions for Web 3.0:

1. Smart contracts and crypto payments will become more common. Every year there is a massive amount of wealth lost in the creator ecosystem through sloppy invoicing. Smart contracts are simply a new form of contract coded into a blockchain, allowing two parties to create an if/then statement. For example, you'll get automatically paid if you post three Instagram posts with specific criteria. The fulfillment of these contracts has no human interaction and creates more efficient workflows.
2. There will be a more significant distinction between "Creator" and "Influencer." Creators are artists and entertainers who have a following because of the content they create, and the value for the audience is in following along and consuming that content. Influencers are followed not for the creative nature of the content but their value to audiences. These are your traditional beauty, fashion, and lifestyle influencers. Creators will increasingly monetize through NFTs, Tokens, etc., while advertising will continue to be the primary revenue source for influencers.
3. Creators will have the ability to hold more power and build more wealth with Web3. The parameters of Web2 define the entire creator economy. With the emergence of Web3, we will see what it means to be a creator and influencer change in ways that are hard to predict but certain to happen.

We hope to dive more into this topic through resources, insights, and conversations in the coming months. If you have any questions about Web3, submit them here.

-----

This post was originally written for our Insights newsletter. Learn more on how brands can better navigate the influencer space. Sign up for Fohr CEO James Nord's newsletter.