What is a Web3 or decentralized social network?

What is a web3 social network?

A Web3 social network rests on the one hand, on what is called a protocol And on the other hand, on blockchain technology. A protocol is governed by a set of rules allowing two individuals to communicate without an intermediary between them.

In the context of an email exchange, it matters little that transmitter A uses the Gmail service and that the consignee B uses the Hotmail service, because it is simply a matter of interface. In reality, these exchanges are both based on the SMTP protocol (considered a standard / common good).

? Find out what Web3 is, this decentralized version of the Internet

While the interest in using the blockchain comes from its properties of immutability, resilience and transparency. Each transaction is thus irreversible and everyone can audit in real time what is happening on the blockchain. In addition, it is based on a multitude of nodes that ensure the proper functioning and stability of the network. In theory, therefore, there is no single point of failure.

Unlike (centralized) Web2 social networks like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, a protocol and therefore by extension, a Web3 social network, is not the property of any for-profit company. Although Twitter is the exception that proves the rule, as Paul Graham (founder of the Y Combinator incubator) pointed out in April 2009 in a note published on its website.

In other words, each member of the community can create their own application above the technological base provided by the developers at the initiative of the project, and this, thanks to a completely open-source code, free of access.

Moreover, the real added value of a Web3 social network compared to a social network such as Facebook lies in the decentralization of the social graph. This process aims to make it composable and give each user control over their digital identity, which was previously in the hands of a “trusted” third party.

Originally popularized by Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook), this concept of social graph represents the very heart of the economic model of Web2 social networks. Indeed, the data contained therein represents an abundant source of revenue for the platforms. Their nature as a “non-rival” good makes them a superior resource to black gold for those who collect and exploit them, because their availability is infinite.

This excessive use of data by advertisers is most often done to the detriment of respect for the privacy of their users.. The famous adage formulated by the French voice of Bruce Willis in this video then takes on its full meaning: If it’s free, you’re the product! “.

Finally, Web3 social networks are part of a larger category gathered under the banner of “decentralized social networks”.

Why do we need Web3 social networks?

Far from the original philosophy defended by the contributors of the Arpanet (ancestor of the Internet), the development of a democratic culture on the Internet seems threatened today. Under the pretext of making the Internet accessible to as many people as possible, GAFAM on the Western side and BATX (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi) on the Asian side have taken over the components of the Internet that were once considered common goods.

These companies expropriate every day a little more the Internet user of his freedom of expression and his right to privacy… to make it a simple consumer of content, goods and services of all kinds (Cf. Netflix, Airbnb, Uber…).

The arrival of the mobile era in the 2010s accelerated this trend and strengthened the stranglehold of GAFAM and BATX on this flourishing digital economy. This ranges from the manufacture of computer equipment to the design of operating systems, software and applications.

As our lives become digitized, the question of our addiction vis-à-vis these giants arises.

Indeed, the latter find themselves literally involved in all aspects of this new economy. On this point, GAFAM’s merger-acquisition policy is no stranger to the phenomenon.

In 2021, data provided by Dealogic (platform providing financial and technological information to investment banks) showed that Google acquired 120 companies and Microsoft acquired 56. Regarding Meta (ex. Facebook), it is at the origin more than 50 acquisitions since 2004 with iconic takeovers such as WhatsApp or Instagram.

The objective is twofold : buy to develop… or “kill”, in the case where the innovation brought by a startup rwould question their dominant position on the market.

Here are some evocative figures from the “Digital Report 2023” of We Are Social and Meltwater (two agencies specializing in the study of social media):

• More than 88% of computers on the planet are equipped with Microsoft’s Windows system;
• More than 90% of queries on the Internet are made via the Google search engine;
• Nearly 37% of the world’s population uses Facebook monthly;
• Instagram is the most downloaded mobile application in 2022 ;
• Each Internet user spends an average of one day per month on YouTube knowing that this represents 5.16 billion individuals.

In reality, the digital economy in which we spend more and more of our time represents only a tiny part of the Internet, but a majority of the wealth produced.

In short, the Web2 social networks have been able to convince by their freebut also by their accessibility (computer, mobile and tablet), their user experiencetheir recommendation algorithm as well as thenetwork effect resulting from their adoption. But are there viable alternatives?

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What are the differences between a Web2 and Web3 social network?

Web3 designates an era where the Internet user once again becomes the owner of the content he publishes, the assets he owns and the data he shares… Conversely, the big winners of Web2 were and still are the platforms that facilitate interaction and information sharing among billions of people every day.

To explain their success, we must also go back in more detail to the functioning of a so-called “centralized” social graph.

According to Matthew Hartman, it is possible to split it into 4 fundamental components :

• THE Nodes which designate the actors of the network. For example, people, places, etc. ;
• THE Data that refer to content shared between nodes. For example, a tweet about Bitcoin;
• THE Edges which select lines indicating relationships between nodes. For example, the “friend” relationship defines a two-way relationship, while “following” defines a one-way relationship;
• THE Functions of jumps which symbolize the specific means to transmit Data from one subgroup of users to another on the same platform. For example, retweeting, liking, commenting, etc.

In summary, the social graph designates the set of relationships created between individuals, groups, organizations and the way in which they are linked (likes, shares, geolocation: work, city of birth, vacation destination).

Due to the bi-directional advantage, Facebook turns out to be a much more intimate space for friends and family. While Twitter serves as an effective means of disseminating information through a culture of “immediacy”. In the same way Reddit allows users to follow topics instead of people.

Therefore, the better the social graph of a platform is designed and developed, the less the users’ news feed looks like spam and the more the social network has the capacity to deliver the right content, at the right time and at the right time. person. This virtuous circle builds user loyalty and increases the platform’s revenue as it collects data and sells it to advertisers. For example, TripAdvisor uses Facebook’s social graph to make personalized recommendations to travellers.

Each modification within the social graph, no matter how small, can significantly impact the user experience of all or part of the individuals. Technically, the role of a graph is D’to orderof structure and of link data so as to find specific information when needed.

So what is the problem? After the Cambridge Analytica scandal that occurred in 2018, the world has become aware of the threat posed by the collection and commercial exploitation of large amounts of personal data by a very limited number of actors. This has also reinforced the relevance of a European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and enlists the public authorities in a long-term action, aimed at enforcing the rights of their citizens on the Internet.

Moreover, the opacity of recommendation algorithms regularly raises many concerns among content creators. Indeed, the latter can sometimes receive unstable income, from one month to another, due to an arbitrary change in the functioning of the social network. And more recently, the Twitter platform has been the subject of experiments by its new owner, Elon Musk, which have not been to the liking of all users.

Given that Web2 social networks belong to companies, it therefore seems obvious that their economic interests will diverge from those of users and content creators.

It is in response to all these issues that the idea of ​​a more decentralized Internet was born.

Here is what characterizes a Web3 social network:

• economic neutrality;
• The “decentralized” social graph: each user has his own social graph;
• The composable aspect: each user can migrate from one application to another without having to rebuild their network from the beginning (subscribers, content(s), chat history(s)…);
• The protection of personal data and the monetization of these by each user;
• Resistance to censorship;
• Freedom of speech ;
• Democratic governance.

However, there are barriers to the emergence of this new model:

• The cost of infrastructure;
• The management of a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO);
• The balanced distribution of voting power between the different actors;
• The representative participation rate in the proposals of the DAO with the objective of establishing a quorum (number of voters required for the vote to be valid);
• Moderation of user content and behavior;
• The issue of accessibility. In the event of a lost or compromised wallet, the user loses access to his social graph. This is why the crypto community is actively working on developing a solution to this problem which is none other than account abstraction.

Conclusion – What future for web3 social networks?

Today’s popular social networks were originally built around a new trend in communication. In the case of Facebook, it was the wall with which anyone could interact on a user’s profile. Concerning Twitter, it was the tweet with its famous limitation of 140 characters as well as the hashtags. And for Instagram, these are the ephemeral stories who contributed to his fame.

Over time, social platforms have emerged as natural monopolies due to their network effects. Indeed, the more users there are, the more content there is to consume, the more time Internet users spend on these platforms and the more their revenues increase. On this point, an Internet user spends an average of 2h31 per day on social networksor about 38% of their time spent on the Internet. Attention is therefore an invaluable resource for these platforms..

However, there is three major issues to these social networks whose economic model is based on advertising:

• They determine what users should see or not see via their recommendation algorithm;
• They have significant censorship power and arbitrary judgment vis-à-vis certain content and profiles;
• They control personal datasometimes sensitive, without the knowledge of their users.

Web3 social networks were born in response to the flaws in this system. However, many challenges remain.. Firstly, users do not yet see enough interest in using a decentralized version of an existing social network. On the other hand, issues of accessibility, operational costs, but also economic incentives for participants come into play. Not to mention moderation of content and behavior which can be difficult to implement.

At the same time, the development of the crypto and blockchain ecosystem has brought its share of innovations, particularly in the way of acquiring a status.. For example, you must perform a specific on-chain action or hold a certain amount of a token in order to obtain an NFT or be able to be part of a community.

Whether BlueSky, CyberConnect, DeSo, Farcaster or Lens Protocol, each of these projects stands out for its technical infrastructure And its user experience, despite value propositions that are fundamentally similar. On the other hand, what about theinteroperability between the different decentralized graphs?

And as for the long-term outlook, it would be relevant to consider the development of a potential roll-up or a layer 1 blockchain dedicated to this type of applicationdue to their large storage and indexing needs.

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The future success of such a model rests on its adoption by the pioneers as well as the ability of each project to constantly attract new users. Ultimately, what users really need is an unprecedented experience that only blockchain technology can truly deliver.

An article will soon be published to go into more detail about the very operation of the main solutions devised to decentralize social networks. such as Bluesky, Cyberconnect, DeSo, Lens Protocol or Farcaster.

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