Looking at the history of social signaling might give us an indication of how social networks might look on Web3.

By definition social signaling refers to how humans in nature give clues to qualities that are indirectly observable. It helps humans in society form social hierarchies and is embedded in our natural evolution. Some researchers link social status strongly to well-being, morbidity, and even survival.

Evolutionary psychology doesn't change but the mediums humans express these signals do.

We can backtrack and see that ancient civilizations did this very intentionally with physical objects (tattoos, jewelry, haircuts, clothing). Individuals made it a high priority to visualize their role in society and display their socioeconomic status.

This phenomena still persists today through material ownership. From fashion to watches, homes, cars and even the degrees sitting on our desks. As it should, our livelihood depends on it.

Enter Zuckerberg.

Fast forward to the invention of social networks, a new phenomena started to emerge, something I like to describe as “digital signaling”. For the first time in history your online presence matters and gives you a place in a universal society. For many it becomes important how many followers you have, if you are verified, what content you have uploaded, and a whole new social dynamic develops.

It also becomes an expression of your identity. You can like certain pages, upload your best pics, connect with friends and follow their “digital signals”.

There is a general problem. The content being shared is not verified. These signals are all self-administered. Verification rather depends on the amount of social praise hailed, which is why likes and comments take the center stage. Nonetheless, it changes the world.

Web3 brings the creation of digital ownership. Now humans can express themselves with what they have online and everything is verified.

This is the holy grail of everything that Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter have sought out to be. Imagine a world where you own everything on your Instagram page, this is your new home and the feed is what you do in your digital life.

Don’t be mistaken in thinking that right now the only thing that users can show off on-chain are art collectibles and crypto coins.

https://twitter.com/NathanCRoth/status/1451540789356531712

NFTs have the potential to shape our online identity when they start to tokenize the world. Most people agree that experiences, merit awards, social communities, brands, creators, professionals, and actions online will all have an NFT receipt of on-chain validity. This world is closer than we think and this is when Web3 social explodes.

Metabio takes one of the first stabs at this holistic social profile on-chain:

The other amazing aspect is that Web3 socials are aggregators, that read blockchain transactions and all the content already exists. There is no need for users to upload the data.

The future of a feed: John went to the Kanye concert → NFT ticket Mary invested in Climate DAO → DAO coin enters wallet Sam joined Launch house → NFT of community admission enters wallet Alexander believes in Lebron → Creator coin enters wallet

This is the way the world is moving, like it or not. The PFP craze is just the beginning.

It now becomes “Show me who you are, don’t tell me”

Friend Networks No one talks about how friend networks are bigger than creator socials. Facebook at nearly a $1 trillion market cap does not rely on creators and has the most users of any social network. What fueled its global takeover was the networks it helped create from individuals’ social groups with their friends, family and old acquaintances .

Since the blockchain already hosts the information, then any internet user becomes a creator just by taking actions on the web. Imagine a version of Facebook with everyone of its users is posting content. This greatly turns upside down the 1% rule that dictates that only 1% of people on the internet post content and the rest consume.

Non-dualism Everything in social now is tied to an emotion, mostly winning and happy. The blockchain is not dualistic and rather passes on information as it is. John bought a ticket to the Selena Gomez concert, did he have a great or bad time, who knows.

Could this be the answer to the depression and mental disorders that many have argued are brought by Web2 socials?

This is the real metaverse… for now
For the foreseeable future the metaverse that many visionaries imagine requires technological advancements in VR or brain-computer interface improvements (Neuralink fans?). These could take many years before the necessity of an avatar and a 3D online world bring benefits. For as long as we are consuming the internet through single screens then it is best to stick to profiles and feeds, filled with the expressions of our digital identities. Using an avatar to navigate a world through a screen greatly limits our ability to consume information and is rather an amusing experience of what might be.

I largely look forward to the magic that comes from a technology innovation + a simple user interface. Take Instagram in 2010 which was made possible from the ability to take decent pictures on our smartphones. A simple interface that lets you share these pictures to your social circles seemed like fun. As the platform grew, the “magic’’ occurred: influencers, digital marketing, data collection. No one could have predicted the implications of this and the power that these technology companies wielded. A countries presidential outcomes could be defined by this photo sharing app.

I presume the same will happen in Web3, blockchain + a user interface of chain activity will logically allow for human connections over these digital assets. We can see what DAOs our friends are voting on, what courses they completed and so much more. What we can’t predict is the ‘magic’ of the implications of these new social dynamics. What happens when all social content is verified? How do humans behave when they are co-owners of the same assets? What happens when each signal has more value? When all the data is public and I can easily find people with identical shared assets?

Let’s build this future and find the answers to these questions. There is great power in how humans organize. I imagine that in 2022 we will have a much clearer picture and I my entrepreneurship journey has led me to start building in this space. Follow me on twitter to find out how social in Web3 progresses and what actors are leading the charge along with Metabio.

Looking at the history of social signaling might give us an indication of how social networks might look on Web3.

By definition social signaling refers to how humans in nature give clues to qualities that are indirectly observable. It helps humans in society form social hierarchies and is embedded in our natural evolution. Some researchers link social status strongly to well-being, morbidity, and even survival.

Evolutionary psychology doesn't change but the mediums humans express these signals do.

We can backtrack and see that ancient civilizations did this very intentionally with physical objects (tattoos, jewelry, haircuts, clothing). Individuals made it a high priority to visualize their role in society and display their socioeconomic status.

This phenomena still persists today through material ownership. From fashion to watches, homes, cars and even the degrees sitting on our desks. As it should, our livelihood depends on it.

Enter Zuckerberg.

Fast forward to the invention of social networks, a new phenomena started to emerge, something I like to describe as “digital signaling”. For the first time in history your online presence matters and gives you a place in a universal society. For many it becomes important how many followers you have, if you are verified, what content you have uploaded, and a whole new social dynamic develops.

It also becomes an expression of your identity. You can like certain pages, upload your best pics, connect with friends and follow their “digital signals”.

There is a general problem. The content being shared is not verified. These signals are all self-administered. Verification rather depends on the amount of social praise hailed, which is why likes and comments take the center stage. Nonetheless, it changes the world.

Web3 brings the creation of digital ownership. Now humans can express themselves with what they have online and everything is verified.

This is the holy grail of everything that Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter have sought out to be. Imagine a world where you own everything on your Instagram page, this is your new home and the feed is what you do in your digital life.

Don’t be mistaken in thinking that right now the only thing that users can show off on-chain are art collectibles and crypto coins.

https://twitter.com/NathanCRoth/status/1451540789356531712

NFTs have the potential to shape our online identity when they start to tokenize the world. Most people agree that experiences, merit awards, social communities, brands, creators, professionals, and actions online will all have an NFT receipt of on-chain validity. This world is closer than we think and this is when Web3 social explodes.

Metabio takes one of the first stabs at this holistic social profile on-chain:

The other amazing aspect is that Web3 socials are aggregators, that read blockchain transactions and all the content already exists. There is no need for users to upload the data.

The future of a feed: John went to the Kanye concert → NFT ticket Mary invested in Climate DAO → DAO coin enters wallet Sam joined Launch house → NFT of community admission enters wallet Alexander believes in Lebron → Creator coin enters wallet

This is the way the world is moving, like it or not. The PFP craze is just the beginning.

It now becomes “Show me who you are, don’t tell me”

Friend Networks No one talks about how friend networks are bigger than creator socials. Facebook at nearly a $1 trillion market cap does not rely on creators and has the most users of any social network. What fueled its global takeover was the networks it helped create from individuals’ social groups with their friends, family and old acquaintances .

Since the blockchain already hosts the information, then any internet user becomes a creator just by taking actions on the web. Imagine a version of Facebook with everyone of its users is posting content. This greatly turns upside down the 1% rule that dictates that only 1% of people on the internet post content and the rest consume.

Non-dualism Everything in social now is tied to an emotion, mostly winning and happy. The blockchain is not dualistic and rather passes on information as it is. John bought a ticket to the Selena Gomez concert, did he have a great or bad time, who knows.

Could this be the answer to the depression and mental disorders that many have argued are brought by Web2 socials?

This is the real metaverse… for now
For the foreseeable future the metaverse that many visionaries imagine requires technological advancements in VR or brain-computer interface improvements (Neuralink fans?). These could take many years before the necessity of an avatar and a 3D online world bring benefits. For as long as we are consuming the internet through single screens then it is best to stick to profiles and feeds, filled with the expressions of our digital identities. Using an avatar to navigate a world through a screen greatly limits our ability to consume information and is rather an amusing experience of what might be.

I largely look forward to the magic that comes from a technology innovation + a simple user interface. Take Instagram in 2010 which was made possible from the ability to take decent pictures on our smartphones. A simple interface that lets you share these pictures to your social circles seemed like fun. As the platform grew, the “magic’’ occurred: influencers, digital marketing, data collection. No one could have predicted the implications of this and the power that these technology companies wielded. A countries presidential outcomes could be defined by this photo sharing app.

I presume the same will happen in Web3, blockchain + a user interface of chain activity will logically allow for human connections over these digital assets. We can see what DAOs our friends are voting on, what courses they completed and so much more. What we can’t predict is the ‘magic’ of the implications of these new social dynamics. What happens when all social content is verified? How do humans behave when they are co-owners of the same assets? What happens when each signal has more value? When all the data is public and I can easily find people with identical shared assets?

Let’s build this future and find the answers to these questions. There is great power in how humans organize. I imagine that in 2022 we will have a much clearer picture and I my entrepreneurship journey has led me to start building in this space. Follow me on twitter to find out how social in Web3 progresses and what actors are leading the charge along with Metabio.