Since its launch in 2006, Twitter has taken the world by storm, surging into popular culture and rivaling other growing social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. As a service that allows users to write and share text or visual context, the flexibility of Twitter was an instant hit. Yet, in 2023, the company made the brash – and seemingly overnight – decision to perform a total rebrand.
Elon Musk, the current CEO of Twitter, announced that the company would be rebranding to “X,” with all Twitter mascots and icons changing from the 23rd of July. The decision has shocked many users, instantly ending nearly two decades of brand legacy and drawing negative attention to the company. Interestingly, Eric Jackson stated that Musk has been wanting to change one of his companies to “X” for years, with the team at PayPal denying his requests in the past.
For creators, the sudden change comes with a certain hypocrisy. For years, Twitter has refrained from providing a payment system or rewards for creators on their platform, profiting off user posts without giving back to the users. While they’ve said that implementing a huge change like this would simply take too much work, this day-to-night rebrand calls into question the validity of these claims.
With user outrage at an all-time high and interest in the app ‘X” falling, many users are looking to alternative social systems that will treat them better. Of these, the Web 3 application Phaver has quickly become the favored alternative.
Moving Away from Twitter and Web 2 as a Whole
Within Web 2 ecosystems, all content produced and published online belongs to the company platform that a user utilizes. For example, when someone posts to Instagram, Meta gains all rights to that content, being able to republish it and repurpose it for any reason they see fit. Equally, Twitter runs ads on their site, which means they directly profit from the engagement that Tweets bring in.
Web 2 offers no alternative to this system, as this is simply the way it’s always been. Even when looking at user data, no one has any control over where their data goes and whether or not it is sold. Many large-scale organizations will sell user data in order to generate further profit from their users, with the users that data is actually taken from not seeing a cent of profit.
Web 2 social applications are engineered for profit, meaning that every interaction and minute spent on them directly feeds into the pockets of those in charge. For a site like Twitter, with nearly 400 million global users, the extent to which they can profit of their users is almost unparalleled.
With the rapid rebranding of Twitter, Musk and other executives trust that users will simply ignore the inconvenience and carry on as normal. However, as more people realize the extent to which they are exploited within Web 2 systems, there has been a noticeable shift in how people approach social apps.
Over the past few years, more people than ever before have turned to alternative systems of social connection. Of these, Web 3 applications and social spaces have quickly become a leading way of moving away from the Web 2 system that only profits off users. Let’s dive into Web 3 and pinpoint exactly how it’s allowing creators and general users to take power back for themselves.
How Does Web 3 Help the Creator Community?
Web 3 is a system that’s founded upon blockchain protocols. With this technology at the center of all applications, companies that build Web 3 environments do so in accordance with its central principles. One of these principles is the movement to a transparent and user-oriented way of operating.
In social applications like Twitter, we’ve seen millions of accounts sign up without getting anything in return. Web 3 changes this by allowing creators to actually own the content they write, produce, and publish online. Whether they’re rewarded by gaining cryptocurrency for reviews and engagement or offered the ability to integrate NFT technology into their posts, the possibilities are endless.
By engaging with Web 3 systems, creators are able to gain an element of agency that was lost with Web 2 capitalism. The for-profit corporations that have been profiteering of user data and content no longer have the opportunity to do so as more people move into Web 3 applications.
While a huge migration of users won’t happen overnight, the extensive range of benefits that Web 3 can offer creators is an advantage that many cannot overlook.
Final Thoughts
The rapid surge in new accounts and registrations on Web 3 social platforms like Phaver demonstrates the excitement that creators feel to be valued for their work. Instead of carrying on the legacy Web 2 systems that profit from users without giving anything in return, this new wave of Web 3 platforms will provide an advantageous space for creators that mirror all the features of their Web 2 counterparts.
For users that simply want to use a service like Twitter without having to buy into the ridiculous rebranding, other platforms are rapidly becoming more attractive. Equally, for creators that want to earn for their content, Web 3 is paving the way toward a more beneficial social system.
