Web3 Daily

View Original

Is the Crypto Community About To Leave Twitter for Bluer Pastures?

TL;DR

  • BlueSky, the decentralized Twitter rival (started by ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey), is gaining some traction in the crypto space, with many prominent figures making the jump.

  • Here's the problem...new features like ‘decentralization’ are cool and all - but what can we actually do on the platform?

  • Right now, the answer is: you can start posting on a platform that looks and feels a lot like Twitter, except none of your friends are there. (Not the best sales pitch).

  • Here's the fix: Niche down baaaby! Service one focused audience, then build out from there. And it looks like that's what BlueSky is doing, starting with the crypto community.

Full Story

Speaking of 'things to do with decentralized technology'...

BlueSky, the decentralized Twitter rival (started by ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey), is gaining some traction in the crypto space, with many prominent figures making the jump.

If you're wondering what decentralization means in the context of a social platform like Twitter, think of it like email - but for social media.

Meaning, with email - we can decide to take our 'hello@web3daily.co' address and contact book, and plug it in to platforms like Gmail or Outlook.

(Or even DIY it and make our own platform, running on our own servers).

But if we wanted to take our @web3dailyco Twitter handle and all of our followers over to another platform like Instagram - we couldn't. We'd have to start from scratch.

Web3 'social protocols,' like the one that powers BlueSky, allow you to take your entire digital identity (your handle, your content, your followers) with you between other platforms built on the protocol.

Sounds awesome, right?! Here's the problem...

As we mentioned in the previous article, new features like this are cool and all - but what can we actually do with them?

Right now, the answer is:

You can start posting on a platform that looks and feels a lot like the one you just left, except none of your friends are there.

(Not the best sales pitch).

Here's the fix:

We love recycling this phrase, so forgive us if you've heard it before...

'Niches get riches.'

  • Facebook started as a social network for college students.

  • LinkedIn did the same for professionals.

  • Instagram did it for photographers.

  • Discord did it for gamers.

So how does BlueSky battle Twitter's established network effects (network effects = 'all my friends are here, that's why it's valuable to me')?

Niche down baaaby! Service one focused audience, then build out from there.

And it looks like that's what BlueSky is doing, starting with the crypto community.

Which makes perfect sense. They value small, tight knit community spaces AND decentralization.

Whether or not this 'migration' is just noise, or a real shift, is still yet to be seen.

Either way, it's exciting to watch!