Echoes and Exclusions- Understanding Our Role in Digital Content Creation and Curation

Every day, in front of our laptops, we find ourselves adrift in an ocean of information, constantly bombarded by waves of content. To navigate and communicate in the digital world, what matters is not just what we create, but also what we curate.

Creation is the act of producing something. If we want to create quality content, like a blog post, a podcast, a video, or a tweet, we must create something original, authentic, and relevant. It must resonate with the people, and deliver a message that taps into their emotions, interests, and needs.

Curation is the art of finding, selecting, and sharing content that others have created. It's the ability to sift through the noise, to find the gems that are relevant, valuable, and timely for us and others.

We are all creators and curators

We are creating and curating content every day. When we are plunging into work, writing emails, lines of code, and engaging in online discussions - each is an act of content creation.

We are curating daily, when we select the articles we read, or podcasts we listen to. When we browse through Reddit, Twitter, medium, and cherry-pick the most interesting bits, each choice is an act of curation, that defines our interests and priorities. The act of curation is an intimate process, revealing our curiosity and our learning direction. Each choice we make, each piece of content we decide to consume, mirrors and forms our understanding of the world.

These moments of choice, are an intricate dance between content creator and curator - the unseen content creators whose articles we read, whose thoughts we consume, and us, curating these snippets of information for our consumption, forming our knowledge and understanding of the word.

The Power of Curation

We are usually not directly in touch with the creators of the content we consume. The content we curate for ourselves has already been curated by others. Historically, the power of curation lay with a select few gatekeepers - editors, TV producers, educators, and store owners. With the internet, this power has been democratized. Anyone with an internet connection can now curate content and reach an audience through various platforms. We entrust certain individuals - thought leaders whose opinions we value - to curate content for us.

Curation carries immense power. The curators - whether they are algorithms shaping our social media feeds, gatekeepers controlling the news we receive, or influencers swaying our purchase decisions - shape our understanding of the world. They decide whose voices are heard and whose content is promoted, influencing trends, narratives, and beliefs. Their choices can uplift some creators while marginalizing others, shaping who gets to share their perspectives.

Conclusion

As we navigate this era of powerful curators and pervasive content curation, we must aim for a diverse and democratic digital landscape. Embracing a subtractive communications strategy becomes essential. By subtracting the sources that perpetuate biases, echo chambers, and exclusion, we open up space for unheard voices to be heard.

This was the 2nd part of a series of texts, exploring the questions of how the philosophy of subtraction can guide a communications strategy, and how we can create and curate content in a subtractive way.

The three texts cover 1) The Philosophy of Subtraction, 2) Content Creation and Curation, and 3) an Approach to Subtractive Communications.

The next text of the series will explore how we can foster a subtractive, and more inclusive and democratic system of content creation and curation.

The Ethereum Foundation has a unique philosophy. The approach of subtraction resists the natural tendency of organizations to grow and accumulate power. The Ethereum Foundation wants to distribute opportunities to the Ethereum community and tries to matter less as Ethereum and the ecosystem grow.

As a content writer and part of the Ethereum Foundation’s Devcon and communications team, I've been recently asking myself these questions:

How can the philosophy of subtraction guide a communications strategy? How can we create and curate content in a subtractive way?

The following series of 3 texts will be a personal exploration of these questions. The texts will cover 1) The Philosophy of Subtraction, 2) Content Creation and Curation, and the third text attempts to bring both together to 3) An Approach of Subtractive Communications.

Philosophy of Subtraction

Subtracting is essentially taking something away. This can be a challenging concept, especially in a world of abundance and in a culture that seems to value more over less. When we feel empty or lonely, our instinct might be to fill the void with more people, more hobbies, more distractions, instead of sitting with the pain and then subtracting what might be causing this feeling of emptiness in the first place. In our pursuit of happiness, we often think about what we can gain, what we can add to our lives. More money, more possessions, more recognition. But often, happiness lies in the subtraction - letting go of toxic relationships, reducing the time spent on unfulfilling jobs, or trimming down material possessions that weigh us down.

The same applies to power: We have witnessed the accumulation of power to reach goals. A profound manifestation of the philosophy of subtraction is in the redistribution of power. When an individual voluntarily steps back from a position of authority, allowing others to step in and make decisions, they are subtracting themselves from the equation, thus redistributing power.

Why subtracting?

Removing a central source of power may likely cause (temporary) chaos, as someone or something, once perceived as stable and secure, disappears. Individuals in societies often rely on authorities for decision-making, some may even find it rather comfortable to place their faith in a centralized authority. The subtraction of such a decision-maker could lead to instability and insecurity, potentially followed by a series of poor decisions, as those who suddenly need to make decisions and think independently find themselves thrust into unfamiliar territory.

In his book Antifragile, Nicolas Taleb discusses how systems can benefit from disorder. A system that lost its secure point of guidance might struggle first, but it can potentially benefit from this stressor, and gain diversity and resilience. Using the parallel to biological systems that are evolving, removing a central power can be likened to a biological mutation. Initially destabilizing and disruptive, this environmental stress forces the system to react and can foster a range of responses and adaptations. Different ideas, perspectives, and strategies emerge. This diversity, in turn, increases the system's resilience. Like a species with a diverse gene pool, a system with a variety of decision-makers is better equipped to adapt to changes and withstand future shocks. Subtracting a central point of power can result in a more robust system, better capable of enduring uncertainty and chaos.

Filling the Gap

When a person with power is stepping back, and is consciously leaving a gap, when there is suddenly an unoccupied space with open access, most likely, someone will step up and want to fill this position of power.

Subtraction can lead to unexpected outcomes, or even something you fervently hoped would not transpire. An example of this can be seen in the aftermath of the French Revolution, which aimed to subtract the monarchy from the equation. However, the immediate consequence was not a peaceful transition to democracy, as many had hoped. Instead, it led to a period of intense political turmoil and violence, culminating in the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte and the establishment of an empire.

Maybe it was the force with which the subtraction occurred that resulted in a bad outcome. But even if you step back voluntarily from a position of power, it is inevitable that someone or something will fill the gap. So how can you ensure that the subtraction of a point of power will lead to more diversity and that your attempt to distribute power will work?

Subtracting - When and how much?

Deciding when and how much to subtract when you're a leader or a caregiver can be tricky. As a parent, for example, you want to support your child, but also let them learn independence and self-reliance.

The Ethereum Foundation uses the metaphor of gardening the Ethereum ecosystem. The Foundation is in a unique position to foster long-term growth and success for Ethereum and the ecosystem, equipping the community to stand on its own, much like parents prepare their children.

Albert Ni, a long-time supporter of the Ethereum Foundation, offers a framework for deciding when to step back and when to step in. He suggests doing the 10% that wouldn't organically occur – tasks no one else might undertake due to an imbalance of effort and immediate rewards, yet that are beneficial in the long run or address urgent problems that need to be solved. The remaining 90% should be about nurturing the ecosystem's capacity for self-help, promoting sustainable solutions, and helping build a system for long-term and decentralized solutions.

Stories and Self-Authorship

In the case of stories, you’ll notice the author always has to leave out and subtract something. A story cannot exactly reflect reality. It matters who gets to tell a story, and who gets the chance to share their point of view.

Subtraction is also about removing biases. When we subtract our ego, our biases, and listen to what is really there, listen to the stories of others, we might come closer to the truth, and are able to see a more diverse reality.

How can we support people who depend on us in crafting their own narratives, and at the same time, develop individuals that are empathetic to listen to the stories of others, and thus see and create a more diverse and resilient reality?

The Basic Tools

How can an organization support the self-authorship of others? Which tools do they need to write their own narratives?

After providing the basic needs, you will need to provide all the other skills that are required to survive and succeed in our society. Answering which tools those are, is reaching far beyond the limits of this essay. What I am sure of is that these tools and skills are physical, emotional, and mental tools. They include motivation, curiosity, eagerness, empathy, resilience, and the ability to handle frustration. In a way, the Ethereum Foundation is providing two basic needs, funding in the form of grants, and legitimacy in the form of public support. Funding helps you to survive, and legitimacy helps you trade with others.

Conclusion

The philosophy of subtraction isn't just about less; it's about strategically stepping back to allow others to step forward. It is about supporting growth, encouraging self-authorship, and fostering diversity. Subtraction isn't merely an act of removal - it's an act of trust, letting go, and giving rise to a richer, more inclusive, and resilient reality.

What are the basic needs for content writing, curating, and publishing? How can an entity of power subtract to let others grow and garden a flourishing ecosystem of quality content? Parts 2 and 3 of this small personal series, will try to come closer to answers to these questions.

The ethics of Free Ross DAO

Can a DAO free a prisoner? And influence politics and the law? Free Ross DAO wants to do exactly this. The DAO has three main goals: 1) share Ross Ulbricht’s work with the world, 2) free him from prison, and 3) fight injustice and advance prison reform.

We’ve seen DAOs buying NFT art and mobilizing huge sums of money before, but what is new is that a DAO wants to influence legal structures and questions a decision made by legal authorities.

Free Ross DAO wants to free Ross Ulbricht, who suffers from an unjust sentence to spend the rest of his life in prison. But they apply Ross' issue to a broader problem of injustice in the law system and want to use the new network effects of DAOs to work with allied groups following a similar mission.

What is Free Ross DAO?

The DAO was founded by members of the PleasrDAO community in December 2021, right after Ross Ulbricht announced his “Genesis Collection” NFT auction on SuperRare. The DAO raised over $12,5 million in no time and successfully purchased the NFT for $6.2 million. Contributors to the auction received $FREE tokens representing a fraction of the NFT and membership in the DAO. Free Ross DAO wants to help Ross’ family with their longtime efforts to free Ross. But they are already doing something right now: They support prisoners financially to meet their families.

Who are the members of Free Ross DAO? Some of the contributors have suffered from the American law system and have spent years in prison themselves. They have experienced an unfair system, and they see Ross as one example of many cases of wrongful incarceration. And then there are the people coming from the crypto point of view, who are libertarians and see in the case of Ross Ulbricht the repression of freedom and right to encryption. Many people came to crypto and Bitcoin through Silk Road.

Two versions of reality

At the age of 29, Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to two lifetimes plus 40 years in prison. The US law enforcement thought that was a just sentence for creating Silk Road, an anonymous online marketplace that quickly evolved into a drug marketplace. Ross used a technology that combined Tor and Bitcoin to ensure the privacy of sellers and buyers. The police shut the website down in 2013 and convicted Ulbricht of conspiracy to launder money, computer hacking, narcotics trafficking, and running a criminal enterprise.

Ross would say he didn’t create Silk Road as a marketplace for illegal business. Instead, he was motivated by the libertarian belief in a free market and online privacy and encryption. The philosophy of Ludwig van Mises and the economic thoughts of the Austrian School influenced Ross into proclaiming the power of a free market and limited governance. Silk Road was the incarnation of an anarcho-capitalistic philosophy and a technique to get around the state’s regulations. But Ross and the movement around him see Silk Road as a representation of the human right to privacy, and we need encryption to ensure this human right in the digital era.

The US government doesn’t share Ross’ libertarian beliefs. In their eyes, he did nothing but violate the law, using forbidden technology to pave the way for criminal activities.  They demonize the technology. With the sentence of two lifetimes plus 40 years, the government set a clear sign: They won’t easily tolerate attempts to enable online freedom.

With the goal to free Ross, the DAO also indirectly advocates for anonymous trade and freedom of commerce because this is what Silk Road (the reason why Ross Ulbricht is in prison) was created for.

Who is right, Ross or the police? Should we, independently from Ross’ case, live in a more agorist world with a market free from state regulations? Or should we be more concerned about potential damage because of money laundry, increasing inequality, and unsustainability?

Those questions reach deeply into legal discussions about crypto in general. Politicians often see crypto as a paradise for criminal activities and don’t pay too much attention to all other use cases, like the support of public goods. However, every freedom will always also enable bad things. The discussion about online anonymity vs. legal regulation will accompany us also the following years. The crypto space will need to fight for its rights and freedom.

Can a DAO change the system?

With the attempt to free Ross and advance prison reform, Free Ross DAO questions US law enforcement and accuses the state of being unjust. The DAO wants to achieve political change by civil engagement.

But the possibility to pressure the system by mobilization is limited. We have this one centralized law and political system that some people profit from and others suffer from, but very few options to question those legal authorities and their methods.

The story of Free Ross DAO shows how it becomes harder to live in a society with centralized laws and law enforcement because people have opposing values and beliefs about what is righteous.

But on the other hand, with social media, and now with DAOs, we see an increase in possibilities to express opinions and mobilize as a group. Free Ross DAO is just one example of how individuals coordinated and assembled resources to achieve a joint mission. We’ve seen DAOs allocate huge sums of money to achieve a common goal; Constitution DAO and Free Ross DAO are prominent examples.

Free Ross is the first DAO that starts fighting against the decisions of legal authorities. What roles can DAOs play in shaping legal structures? DAOs are a new form of activism. They are very good at mobilizing money. How can the power of DAOs to mobilize people and money be used to influence legal structures? How can DAOs reshape the world we live in, not only on a moral but on a legal level?

Conclusion

When DAOs find ways to pressure the current system, we need to define our values and what we want and should fight for. We might have found a new powerful tool for mobilization. So with more and more use cases, we’ll see the real power of that tool and might also need to talk about possible dangers and who can be held responsible for the actions of a system that works decentralized and autonomous.

Giving me this five-day challenge was helpful for me to get started. Starting is the first big step; everything that follows is about keeping momentum and working on habits. In the last few days, I was often at my limit because I had this challenge plus my other’s life job that I needed to do. But I know I could do the same of what I did in half of the time. To play the long-term DAO game, I need to learn how to prioritize better and focus on output. Thinking is good, and everyone should do that first. But there is no value for the DAO until you put something outside.

I have to emphasize the value of a personal challenge again. For me, it felt so good to achieve those small goals every day. There was no failing, as long as I had some output to share with the world at the end of each day (even if no one would read it). And because I needed material to write about, I took much more initiative than usual.

Maybe I should check in after one month and see how my contribution at MetaGame progressed. Like in those TV shows where some ‘professionals’ turn over other people’s lives in one day. How well are they doing after one month or one year?

Of course, there is always a pinch of luck in every story. Sometimes it’s just the right time and the right people, and some other times it is the opposite. I can’t tell you how to identify those two; for now, I can just say you will feel when it’s right.

If you like my ideas, follow me on Twitter: @_roseight

Didn’t follow the story? You can start with the first day of Rose’s journey here.

My task was to write notes for a show that would take place in the municipal theatre. The guest of the show arrived riding a tamed bufficorn, and talked about taxes and the buidl brigade.

I wanted to know more but I had to balance my side job, so I left towards the inn’s guild headquarters, where the inn’s owners already waited with many problems to solve.

Something I could look forward to was the writers guild meeting! I met other writers and we discussed some ideas. It was nice, I felt welcomed and like part of the group.

Now I feel a bit drained because the last few days, I had two jobs to handle. But I can feel there is some change in the air. Tomorrow I will document my playbook idea and finish the notes of the show. It will be the last day of my journaled experience, and I’m excited to reflect on what I’ve learned.

If you like my ideas, follow me on Twitter: @_roseight

At the end of day 5, Rose reflected on her learnings.

I walked down the shallow hill seeing the village coming closer. When I arrived in the center the daily market was underway. People were chatting about the latest news, sharing ideas, and even the tavern was full, it seemed like for some people in the city the last day still wasn’t over yet. I talked to a few citizens and introduced myself as a seeker of a task.

In the midst of all the turmoil, I found the message board where people shill their adventures and finished quests. I found out that sometimes there is a guest in town and they have discussions in front of the theatre. And for those who cannot be there, someone needs to write notes about the show. So I asked around for more information about this job and reached out to some people, trying to find the right person to offer my help.

I was looking to lay low so I visited the library and brainstormed some ideas for the Playbooks. There were some setbacks with editing the Notion pages, but I quickly found someone who helped me sort them out.

The sun was setting on the horizon and I was a bit nervous because I hadn’t found a specific quest yet. But then I got an answer from one person, whose name I can’t pronounce, that I reached out to regarding the show notes, and they could actually use my help!

So after this doubtful day, in the end, I got the one message that changed my fate for tomorrow. I talked to many nice people and everyone was happy to help. Now I’m excited about tomorrow when my real DAO training shall begin!

If you like my ideas, follow me on Twitter: @_roseight

Day 4 is the day of heavy lifting and training, for Rose to become better.

Slowly I started walking, and the first person I met was a gnome named Ski. He was coming towards me with a welcoming smile, asking me what styles of writing I like to do. Ski was the one, I guessed, who gave me access to the server, and he was the one telling me about the Playbook Gallery. This is the place that holds all secrets about the writers guild's workflow and is, therefore, a very precious gift. Experience is the DAO writers’ gold mine, and thus, writing a Playbook would be the most straightforward path for me to take.

I could have directly started and dived into work: Pick up a claimable Playbook idea that someone else had proposed, or reach out to another writer and offer my help.

But I haven’t seen enough of the landscape, I thought, there must be so much more to explore. So I turned around and went off to complete some smaller tasks first. I had a to-do list in front of me, self-written with things I could do. Some of them, I realized, were too vaguely formulated or were dependent on others, so they would be hardly achieved. So, in the end, what I did was set my ETH address and write some messages here and there in the channels.

It was a slow second day, and I wonder if I could have done more. I could have focused more on actual contribution instead of wandering around.

So here am I standing now, again, my sword still unused. Tomorrow will start again from the unknown, and this will continue if I don’t make a decision on what to do. I cannot use another day just to explore what is there. To help the DAO, I need to create value myself.

…

I remember, that when I was actually playing a video game, I always went into every corner and tried to get an overview first. And I was confused when others went straightforward to finish a quest. But maybe finding out about everything that surrounds you is not the most important when you want to be effective. You will learn more on the way and can come back when you realize you missed something significant.

If you like my ideas, follow me on Twitter: @_roseight

Day 3 goes on messy, but at dawn, Rose finally finds her first mission.

I never really played video games. I was this person watching the others play. It seems to me that academics also prefer watching others play; they think and they evaluate and they comment on what people do outside of academia, but they are not really hands-on themselves. Universities don’t seem like places where people do stuff. So how can I, as an academic, succeed in the world of DAOs?

I think MetaGame has found an accurate analogy for DAOs: they are open-ended games, and we are the players, who have to find our quests, and on the way, open every treasure chest we find.

If DAOs are the game, then the current broken and unfair system is our Endgegner (German words sound so final). So, how do we get better at playing so that we actually have a serious chance to win?

I can tell you that I didn’t gain much expertise from watching the others play. We learn by doing. So if you want to contribute to a DAO, you need to take the controller into your hands and play.

Last week a friend sent me a link to MetaGame, and that’s where my story began. I started walking through the vastness of the website’s purple landscapes, leading me to treasures like the Playbook. I got lost in the Notion labyrinth, stumbling upon hidden gems like the Content Factory. And I also found: The keys to the Discord Server.

Up to this point, everything was well constructed. I followed some instructions, clicked here and there, and researched information - everything I like as an academic.

But now I’m standing in front of a locked door - behind it the writers guild. I need to start talking and participate in a call to unlock the next step. And what will come after is yet unknown.

This is the moment where so many people stop. In every DAO, finding the starting point of contribution is the hardest. To overcome this obstacle, I decided to write about my quest of finding out how to contribute and maybe even motivate others to start doing the same.

By writing this, I’m also holding myself accountable for actually learning how to get from thinking to doing and not lurk around for weeks. I’m maybe not yet the craziest doing-person, but I really want to become one to help DAOs on their way to defeat the Endgegner.

If you like my ideas, follow me on Twitter: @_roseight

On day 2, Rose arrives in the town, meets a friendly gnome, and goes astray in the vast landscape of possibilities.

What are social tokens? And why are they social, anyway?

The “token”

Social tokens can be any crypto asset, whether fungible or non-fungible. $FWB, the social token of Friends with Benefits, is fungible, while the BAYC NFTs are unique assets that also function as social tokens.

We can transfer social tokens between wallets; we can buy and exchange fungible social tokens on decentralized exchanges, and if they are NFTs, we can purchase them on marketplaces.

Social tokens can increase or decrease in monetary value. The market cap depends on the actual or the imagined value of what the token represents. In the case of social tokens, that value is related to a community or individual.

All those points sound like a classical token, and yes, social tokens can serve as objects for speculation. But all those points also enable autonomous value creation for individuals and communities. Social tokens empower people to monetize themselves without centralized middlemen like Spotify, Facebook, or Youtube. Instead, creators and consumers profit equally, and communities can sustain themselves without much help from the outside. How?

The “social”

We can divide social tokens into two main categories:

1. Creator tokens

2. Community tokens

Messari opens up a third category, “Social Platform Tokens,” which are a mixture between creator and community tokens. There might be further and more detailed distinctions, separating, for example, brand tokens or product tokens.

1) Creator tokens -> The ownership economy

Musicians, influencers, or athletes can issue their personal tokens without much effort using the services of platforms like Rally or Coinvise. But then, people need to want those coins. BitClout is a crypto social network where “everyone gets their coin.” The coins of Elon Musk and Naval currently have the highest value. So, creator coins work well for established influencers and artists. But newcomers, who want to start building a community, first need to prove that buying their tokens will be worth it.

If you want to support an unknown artist, you can buy their social token. Supporters and fans don’t simply fund creators via, for example, Patreon, but they own a share in the creator’s success and, therefore, profit when the token’s value increases.

The result is an independent economy, where creators can not only monetize themselves without being dependent on hegemonic companies and platforms but also give back to their loyal fans. When an artist becomes famous, those who were supportive from the beginning of the artist’s career can gain a lot.

This ownership economy brings a shift of economic power: It takes control from hegemonic companies and empowers creators and consumers.

Social tokens furthermore shift the relationship between creators and consumers. Influencers, musicians, or athletes must focus on their supporters and constantly provide value like exclusive content to prevent token holders from selling.

Creators are using social tokens to build a strong and loyal community. Creator tokens might even imply the right for their holders to participate in decision-making about the creator’s career. For example, video creators could let the token holders vote on the next topic they want to see a video about. This blurs the line between creator and community tokens, as community tokens are all about making decentralized decisions as a community.

2) Community tokens -> Autonomous communities

Self-organizing and self-sustaining communities use social tokens to pay community members for their work. PubDAO, for example, pays writers in $PUB.

Good content or products raise the overall value of the community, which increases the community’s token’s value, which attracts more talented people to work for the community. If everything goes well and the momentum keeps flowing, this creates an autonomous system of value creation.

A healthy balance between the monetary value of the tokens and the social value is important. Otherwise, people might want to “dump” their tokens, or they end up merely as speculative objects. Social tokens can, for example, also serve as governance tokens on platforms like Snapshot to make crucial decisions about the development of the community.

Social tokens can help online communities create a local economy and come closer to the vision of being decentralized autonomous organizations.

Conclusion

Social tokens, as creator tokens, are a great opportunity for small artists, video creators, or college athletes to get valued for their work. They are the cornerstone of the ownership economy and bring a shift of economic power. With social tokens, not hegemonic companies gain all the profit, but creators and consumers equally.Secondly, social tokens can help communities to self-organize and self-sustain by serving as the fundament for decentralized, autonomous economies.

The downside is that social tokens can be used for speculation, resulting in evaluating communities only by their potential monetary value. Social tokens also imply exclusivity and signal status. This evokes stress and FOMO. Furthermore, communities are in steady competition with other communities and need to constantly deliver. What then is left of the social factor of social tokens? What can we do to prevent that social tokens are just another step towards the capitalization of ourselves?

If you like my ideas, follow me on Twitter: @_roseight

If you're a developer, you can just hop on Gitcoin and earn crypto while contributing to DAOs. But how can you participate if you don't know how to code? Decentralized structures often come with chaos. There aren't any clear responsibilities, and the success of projects depends on initiatives. Everything is transparent, but as a newcomer, you can be easily overwhelmed by a massive amount of information. With this in mind, how you can get from your first exposure to a DAO to your first meaningful participation?

TL;DR

Newcomers face four main difficulties before accomplishing their first meaningful contribution to a DAO. First: They need to find a DAO that fits their values and interests. Second: The difficulty to filter important information from noise on Discord. Third: They must find a concrete starting point to position their skills. And fourth: They must understand the structures of how proposals are made to actively do things. This text suggests strategies to overcome difficulties at each of the four levels from the perspective of a newcomer, and also what DAOs can do to make participation easier.

If you like my ideas, follow me on Twitter: @_roseight

Step 1: The right DAO.

DAOs organize themselves around a mission. People who don't know each other can only work together when they share common values and goals. No one wants to commit time and effort to a project that they believe doesn't add value to the world.

Aspiring DAOists can:

• Get an overview

Browsing through DeepDAO, or Gateway can be a good starting point to find a DAO that fits your values and capabilities. Suppose you want to help a DAO flourish from the start and take part in momentous decisions. In that case, you should look for a relatively small and new DAO. Long existing and very developed DAOs often have higher barriers to entry and well established procedures. Therefore it can be harder to participate in a meaningful manner. On the other hand, large treasuries might increase the chance of getting funding for your proposals.

Directories are:

DAOlist.

DeepDAO.

Gateway.

• Choose a DAO to join

DAOs have different purposes and goals. Many DAOs build and govern a product or protocol, others have a cultural or social focus. A treasury is an essential part of a DAO that allows for the gathering and distribution of wealth. However, DAOs don't necessarily make significant financial decisions. They can also act like a club or social group.

There are many types of DAOs. Some DAOs decide on investments and funding, some collectively purchase digital art or collectibles (NFTs), and some even act as gaming guilds that share game assets and revenue.

Some DAOs of different types are:

Compound or ENS (product)

Venture DAO (investing)

PleasrDAO (art)

Aavegotchi (gaming)

• Visit the coordination platform

DAOs use tools for decentralized governance. Proposals and voting happen on openly accessible platforms. For example, small DAOs often organize their decisions on Discord. Their decision processes are looser which makes them more flexible but also more confusing.

Some governance platforms are:

DAOhaus.

Snapshot.

Aragon.

Discourse.

DAOs Can

• Be listed in directories

• Be searched for by category, purpose, and type

• Have social/community links accessible

• Have a transparent proposal and voting history (also when only using Discord)

Step 2: Useful information & skills.

Transparent communication is the main requirement for a decentralized organization. Whether DAOs should be completely public or have secrets is open for debate. However, an important thing to consider is that the more information people have about a DAO, the better they can evaluate how they can contribute. The most important thing for new DAO entrants to consider is what skill sets that DAO needs at that time.

Aspiring DAOists can:

• Introduce themselves

Upon arriving at a DAO's discord server, you should introduce yourself. You can mention how you found the DAO, explain your skillset, and tell everyone your primary focus. By describing yourself, you are allowing others to see how you can help the DAO. After seeing your introductory message, members and participants of the DAO can contact you and let you know how you can contribute. DAOs need designers, content creators, community managers, strategists, analysts, marketers, and many other types of skilled workers.

• Discover the Discord

Most DAOs have a starting channel on Discord where newcomers can set prescribed roles. Often, choosing a role will open up specific channels for you to inform yourself. Many Discord channels seem chaotic at first and may still be confusing even after you spend time trying to understand what's going on. So, where do you go after the "welcome" channel?

• Ask questions

If the structure is not clear, don't hesitate to ask questions. No questions are dumb questions but don't choose a random channel to post them. Instead, look for a newcomers chat, or think of where your question could fit.

DAOs can:

• Provide guidance for the first steps through the Discord channel

A well-organized collection of information with updates, meeting minutes of community calls, and other information can help new users grasp what is going on in the DAO. However, too much information at once is overwhelming, so consider opening different channels: one for the basics and one for more advanced knowledge.

• List in-demand skills in a prominent location

You can even use built-in Discord functions for this, such as giving the user the ability to choose their role with an emoji and unlock relevant channels.

• Make it easy for newcomers to ask

Everyone should feel comfortable asking questions. New users respond well to a "there are no dumb question's" channel. The lack of a specific place for members to ask questions, or an empty question channel, can hinder newcomers from asking them. An alternative is a "newcomers chat" where new members can interact and mutually answer their questions.

• Collect all basic information in one place

• Gather

Until this point, discovering the possibilities of participation should be a low-effort task for new members. Otherwise, newcomers might be discouraged.

• Know their community

Knowing your community is especially important in the beginning. People are there because they are curious and see the potential for a worthwhile project/community. Find out what things they can and want to do that can contribute to the DAO. If you miss this chance in the DAO's life, you could lose some good people.

Step 3: The starting point of contribution.

The bigger the DAO, the harder it is to keep up with the amount and speed of information flow on Discord and governance platforms. If the structure of the social channels makes it easy for users to keep up with what is going on, it will be easier to determine how they can contribute to the DAO.

Aspiring DAOists can:

• Participate in community calls

• Go on a bounty hunt

The fastest and easiest way of contribution is bounties. Huge DAOs have a long list of tasks that need to be done, which they refer to as bounties. If you want to contribute to a DAO you can check out their list of bounties. There are a few platforms that aggregate those tasks.

Bounty aggregators:

Gitcoin (technical or memes)

newsroom (content focused)

layer3 (mix)

When tasks are not formulated clearly, you need to find labor on your own, so you might need to put in a little extra effort.

• Collaborate rather than compete

• Increase the overall knowledge

If you don't see your unique skillset fit into any subpart of the DAO, you might think of gaining new knowledge to help out. No one is yet a full-blown expert of DAOs, so there is room to gain new understanding. You can fill the gaps of underrepresented skills. You can scout through Discord and try to evaluate which areas are lacking and maybe invest in learning these skills.

DAOs can:

• Make the times and locations of community meetings easily accessible to potential participants.

The required permissions for viewing this information can be different. It can be available to everyone, only members that fulfill specific conditions such as having been a member on Discord for a certain amount of time, having shared some information about themselves, or having contacted a community manager for further information.

• Make it easy to understand the stage of

Are bounties a good way of finding contributors? In the early stages of a DAO, bounties may not be the best way to attract meaningful participation since people may ignore the overall mission of the DAO and join only to earn money. Although financial incentives are a key factor in DAO governance, they should come after the mission of the DAO. Internal motivation is needed to allow a DAO to flourish in the long run.

Whether the reward is money or social acknowledgment, a well-structured collection of open tasks and roles helps newcomers to find a starting point for their contribution. This could be, for example, in form of a digital board with post-its or a Kanban process.

• Evaluate splitting the DAO into subgroups

Subgroups could bring more structure into a DAO and make it easier for aspiring contributors to find their place. Orca protocol is working on a technical solution to this. Orca "Pods" operate separately and can even possess separate treasuries.

As with any organization, dividing DAOs into specialized groups can lead to siloed communication. Often, innovation occurs in the interfaces between different categories and groups.

• Make it easy for people to discover the skills of other contributors

For example, DAOs can create a channel where members can post an introduction to themselves. This introduction could include a few sentences about themselves, their journey in the space thus far, and why they are interested in the DAO. It can be motivating and inspiring to have role models.

• Encourage people to gain new knowledge and skills

Step 4: Doing shit.

Participating in a DAO is all about taking action! DAOs don't work with applications and CVs. As soon as people are doing stuff, they are in.

Aspiring DAOists can:

• Take the initiative

DAO participation is all about taking initiative. Some people find this to be difficult. Schools and universities don't teach students how to take the initiative and act for themselves. You might feel you don't know enough to contribute, but DAOs represent the idea of learning by doing. That's what we all do here!

• Put their ideas out there

The fact that there are no work contracts can make the reward insecure. You must show that you did things. If the majority of your work involves thinking, you should be able to document it in some way, shape or form so you can share it with the DAO. That way, others can evaluate your ideas, give feedback.

• Make a proposal

The proposal process depends on how formally a DAO operates. So if you want to propose something (e.g., a new investment, an idea on a governance improvement, or a marketing strategy, you need to know how and where to do this. Small DAOs will not have a formal process for creating proposals, and it may be informal, like having a conversation in a Discord channel. Submitting a proposal on the governance platform of a large and developed DAOs usually have a more formal process. For example, on the Aragon Network DAO, members need to post their ideas in a forum first. Then, the community has seven days to discuss the draft before an improved version is accepted as an official proposal.

Processes like this might seem complicated, but no one promised decentralized organization would be easy.

DAOs can:

• Encourage initiatives

Some Discord groups use bots that guide and motivate initiatives and participation. For example, MEE6 bot ranks people based on their involvement within Discord. However, these bots can only measure quantitive contributions.

It’s hard to find people who naturally take initiative because they are rare. Most people work well in a given framework, but deciding and starting on their own don’t come easy. Following some suggestions of this guide can make it easier for people to take initiative.

• Have a transparent rewarding system

Measuring qualitative contribution is a challenge. It can help to have a neutral person to distribute rewards. When DAO tokens are distributed, we have positive-sum games, which secures everyone a stake in the DAOs success. But if a fixed amount needs to be split between contributors for a specific project, people may feel treated unequally.

• Openly communicate difficulties

• Be aware of the community's participation and try to use tools that a) help visualize participation b) allow members to reward participation of other members

Tools are:

Coordinape (contributors reward mutually from their subjective point of view)

• Clearly communicate the process of proposals

• Set up the DAO on a governance platform as fast as possible to enable formal proposals and voting

If you like what you’ve read, follow me on Twitter: @_roseight

TL;DR: In web2 communities, participation is limited to giving and receiving cheap feedback in the form of likes, and democratic processes are inhibited by filter bubbles and echo chambers. As a result, web2 communities are narrowed down to communities of opinion. Web3 communities, on the contrary, are communities of participation because members partake in decision-making processes and financial profits. Participation is realized by shared ownership based on private ownership, which brings members skin in the game and incentivizes them to act and make good decisions. The tools of communities of participation are composability and open source. They enable the communities to share knowledge, collaborate, and build on top of each other, even beyond the individual communities’ borders.

If you like my ideas, follow me on Twitter: @roseighteth

Over the last weeks, Constitution DAO raised over $40m from over 17k individuals to collectively bid on one of the thirteen surviving copies of the US Constitution auctioned off at Sotheby’s on November 19th. They didn’t win the bid. But they showed what crypto communities are capable of by achieving this symbolic act in a decentral manner.

However, what ConstitutionDAO did wouldn’t have been possible without the previous achievements of web2, which are communication and collaboration on a global scale in real-time. We’ve seen incredible social and political movements happening because of web2. Metoo, blacklivesmatter, and social media usage during Arab Spring had real effects on social change.

But the possibilities of web 2 came with downsides. Trolling, fake news, and cancel culture are buzzwords today’s online communities are infamous for.

All communities have ingroup members that hold common values, and there are outside “enemies” who endanger those values with contradicting beliefs. Centralized social media companies found their strategy for profit in taking advantage of this human group behavior. They keep users on their platforms with implemented mechanisms that push extreme opinions and emotions because feelings and identities are what people care about.

Social media make us feel part of a community. But our participation is limited to clicks and cheap judgment in the form of Likes. Free decisions and nuanced discussions are taken away from us by filter bubbles and echo chambers. Those dynamics inhibit democratic processes and promote homogeneous, extreme, and shortened opinions. Thus, the social of web2 narrows down to a conformist community of opinion.

Web2 communities are opinion communities. In contrast, web3 communities are communities of participation.

Participation can mean different things. Firstly it can be political participation by decision-making and engagement in governmental processes. Secondly, it can be financial participation through ownership, allowing to benefit from the performance of an asset or company.

Web3 communities promise both types of participation to their members. Decentralized autonomous organizations, the communities of web3, contain the solution in their name. Decentralization is met when power is distributed between many. And financial participation, as well as decision-making, is power.

Decision power can be distributed among the individual members in different ways. For example, voting power can be equal for everyone, or dependent on contribution. There are still many open questions on how to realize decentral governance.

Financial participation in web3 communities is less opaque and more settled. It is realized by shared ownership. Either directly by owning a piece of a collectively purchased asset or by owning tokens representing the community’s shares.

If ConstitutionDAO had won the bid on the rare copy of the US Constitution, all contributors to the crowdfund would have owned a percentage of it. Whatever would have happened to the value of the historical piece, everyone had shared the monetary ups or downsides.

Anyone can receive community tokens by contributing. That also comprises using the community’s products because, in the end, it’s the consumers who decide what has value. Retroactive airdrops incentivize early users with possible retroactive rewards. ENS just airdropped their token on November 8th, four years after the project’s launch in 2017, and made some long-time users gain tens of thousands of dollars overnight. The token’s value has increased significantly since then (131% at the time of writing).

Owning a piece of a community in the form of tokens brings every member skin in the game. Skin in the game incentivizes people to act and make good decisions.

In web2 communities, the only things to gain or lose are attention and social confirmation. Even content creators who offer value to the platforms need to find additional ways to get sponsored. There is no incentive for users to establish a nuanced way of discussion, as good arguments cost much more effort than liking or canceling.

The incentive structures of web3 communities make them an unknown mixture of capitalism and communism.

In capitalistic societies, business owners profit from the means of production. Marx dreamed that in communist societies, workers would overthrow the capitalist system of private property and make the factory a common good. In web3 communities, shared ownership is based on private ownership. The profit for one entails the profit for everyone.

Private ownership yields incentives to care about the things you own. Not for nothing, economic science suggests that ownership prevents the tragedy of the commons, the tendency of depletion of resources that are “the commons” but not owned by anyone. To maintain a good condition of common goods, people would need to put effort without gaining anything.

However, there are common goods in web3 communities, not owned by anyone but accessible to everyone and free for usage to potentially make a profit. The ideal of open-source knowledge and code undermines the concept of intellectual property. There is a prevailing spirit in web3 communities, postulating that going alone doesn’t bring you as far as going together.

The tools of communities of participation are open source and composability.

Inefficiency and chaos are negative associations with decentralized organizations. Admittedly, web3 communities are chaotic. Yet they can be efficient because of the technological advantages of composability and the ideal of open source. Everyone can reuse what others have already built if it works well.

The possibilities of composability and open source allow many new communities to rise in no time. That is happening right now. The potential of small communities to double in value brings incentives for skilled people to join young communities from the start.

Contrary to new communities, those that already ‘made it,’ having large treasuries and many members, are often exclusive. Membership can depend on owning a rare NFT or a specific amount of community tokens.

The opportunities and possible gains of starting a new web3 community with a few dedicated contributors are high. But how long will this abundance of opportunities continue? The crypto space is still small. How will communities of participation evolve when more people want to participate? Can the principles of decentralization, shared ownership, and open source ensure fair distribution of power over time?

If you like what you’ve read, follow me on Twitter: @roseighteth

• We do nuanced and in-depth research about governance, citizenship, participation, and technology.

• We reason about the question: What moral principles should guide the development of DAOs and web3?

• Philosophy is interdisciplinary and considers sociological and environmental perspectives.

This will help web3 communities evolve into ethical crypto societies.

In the long run, PhilosopherDAO will:

• fund research outside of academia and make it accessible to anyone

• put philosophers back in the middle of the forum

• combine two philosophical fields: political theory and philosophy of technology

• onboard the next generation of philosophers onto the world of blockchain

Manifesto

👁‍🗨 We believe a philosophical approach can open up new social, political, and environmental perspectives.

🔭 We believe philosophers can explore the intersection of ancient wisdom and internet culture.

🗳 We want to explore new ethics of participation.

⚪️ We want to explore the philosophy of decentralized virtual worlds.

🔮 And do what philosophers do best: Contemplate about where we should or shouldn't go.

Philosophers are pioneers

Philosophers were the first mathematicians, astronomers, and scientists. They've been responsible for many discoveries. They attempted to reason about ethics and about how a society should be governed. In ancient Greece, they pioneered direct democracy.

Philosophy should not only be for academics

Academia funds philosophy for academics. Philosophical texts shouldn't be bloated and hard to read. They should be practical and accessible. Accessible not only in the sense that they should be free but also in how easy they can be understood.

Philosophers need to go back to doing

Philosophers used to be tinkerers. They used to participate in forums and sometimes even governed nations. Nowadays, they're left writing obscure texts and have lost touch with practical matters.

Follow us on

https://twitter.com/PhilosopherDAO