Web3 Communities
I’ve seen a lot of people talking about web3 and one of the key components that people love to mention is the buzz word, decentralized. Sure moving towards a decentralized world is a key benefit of blockchain technology. The decentralized vs centralized debate going on both in between web3 and outside of web3 is an exhausting argument that I won’t rehash at this point.
Instead, I want to focus on writing about one amazing aspect of web3 that is not getting enough love: the community aspect. The concept of creating a community has ingrained roots within web3.
Most NFT projects are the most basic sense are communities. Most people are surprised that people are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a JPEG, but those that make the argument are missing the point. That JPEG or token is simply a membership into specific communities. You aren’t buying a picture of an ape, you are buying more of a status symbol and an exclusive membership that others do not have access to.
I do not buy into any NFT projects without checking out the community first. Discord has how these communities communicate and I will lurk in the Discord for a bit before deciding to move forward. The project is only as good as the community that you are buying into.
People criticizing web3 are spending too much time focusing on the prices and speculation happening in web3 and they are missing the amazing community building happening. Let’s take a few examples from my projects recently:
The LinksDAO community voted to donate to charity and buy back membership passes for users who got previously hacked
A LinksDAO community member bought a young college kid a membership pass because the college kid couldn’t afford to join
IlluminatiNFT community organized a group for newcomers to web3 to learn. Experienced web3 members are mentoring and providing critical advice in regards to security in this group.
These are just small examples of amazing things happening day to day in these web3 communities. I love being part of the communities I have bought into and I am planning to stay loyal because of that community.