As a result of an evolving digital age, communities have expanded from a local, In Real Life (“IRL”), stage to a global, digital stage.
Technological innovation has continued to diminish both the relevance and importance of local communities as opportunities to build and govern digital ones become increasingly attractive.
People can now easily and reliably communicate with anyone in the world, from anywhere, with an internet connection. A reality that has led to the digitization of many communities since it enables for a better selection of individuals to rally behind a broader range of causes:
This article will explore how the underlying technology of Web3 increases the exposure surfaces through which digital communities can be empowered as well as discuss how it compares to communities in Web2.
Let’s dive in.
Article Outline
Background
Different Digital Communities
Digital Community Access (Web2 vs Web3)
Closing Remarks
Background
A community is a social structure based on a group of people whose interests are aligned behind a common cause or vision.
Throughout history, humans lived in communities to ensure the collective’s survival, both in terms of growing food and protecting against predators. It was tough to communicate further than neighboring villages but the sense of belonging was strong.
Nowadays, through industrialization and globalization, the innovation and evolution of telecommunication as well as the internet, humans are no longer limited to their geographical location and can instead pick a community by their preference. Consequently, people now tend to share more with their digital communities across the world than with their local community, especially in cities of size. The sense of belonging remains strong but is changing.
Different Digital Communities
The premise of crypto-economic networks is to function in a way such that the value of the network, and its tokenized currency, increases over time.
The same can hold true for membership tokens, where scarcity is introduced to leverage a selection of the most dedicated members in order to attain common goals. Such a community revolves around a collective of individuals that find the price of the token to be less than the perceived value accessible through the network effects of the existing community. They share the conviction that those will grow over time.
Other collectibles may or may not have scarcity introduced, and no expectation on owners to rally or help execute on a vision.
Digital Community Access (Web2 vs Web3)
A digital community can give members access to a plethora of opportunities within that specific network.
A Web2 community may imply access to a valuable network both digitally and IRL. It may also include early investing opportunities and crucial information only available to its members as well as access to merchandize, partnership rewards, and education about relevant topics. This can be gated behind a log-in portal.
Through the underlying technology of Web3, the surfaces of which to empower digital communities have increased. For example, using the infrastructure of a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (“DAO”) to align interests and govern its development.
It can also sell its NFTs, or its fungible tokens, to fund its further development. It can use proof-of-ownership to token gate applications, experiences, and enable interoperability between other decentralized protocols and metaverses:
In parallel, an economic layer has been attached on top of the network, driven by the value of the token whose liquidity is dictated through the secondary market.
The economic layer is exacerbated by the fact that the token serves as a status symbol and its visual appearance can be highly coveted.
Furthermore, there is an emotional dimension between the token, its owner, and the broader community. This can be deepened, for example, through storytelling surrounding the token’s IP, which increases the perceived value by potential buyers (new members) as well. One example of this is Jenkins the Valet, which uses the intellectual property rights of a BAYC to provide a spin off series of content.
Additionally, open source protocols, such as Ethereum, serve as a ledger of record for each member’s engagement, contributions, and activity within a community over time. Something that can be rewarded, for as long as the chain lives, through soulbound tokens or other tokens that give access to even more exclusive rewards and experiences.
Closing Remarks
Digital communities serve as a natural extension of humanities’ need to belong in an ever-present digital age.
This is an age that has provided communities with ways to more easily and reliably communicate and connect with people from all over the world. That has spawned countless more communities where a broader selection of people have been able to rally behind common values and goals that better fit them, which leads to more productive communities as a result. These communities can also serve as membership clubs, whether exclusive or not, for education purposes, highlighting cultures or other interests.
In conjunction with the latest stage of the digital age, through decentralized protocols and tokens, digital communities have been brought to a new stage. A stage where the dimensions of how to build and govern a thriving community are still nascent, but the possibilities are many, especially in terms of creating more fruitful reward and incentives frameworks. Additionally, the bond between an owner and its token can be strengthened through storytelling, providing access to exclusive experiences and enabling interoperability.
Clearly, communities will not cease to exist, rather, the underlying tooling deriving from innovation will only make them more efficient over time. In the end, digital communities stand a chance to compete with the current IRL societal structures and economic models in building a fully digitized equivalent, known as a network state.