The rise of the networked society
Blockchains are an updated version of social networks
I believe that current blockchain networks, such as Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, to name a few, are upgraded versions of social media networks. It took a minute to dawn on me, but it made perfect sense when I realized that L1s benefit from the same abstractions we saw come to life with social networks in the first decade of the 2000s.
As Evan Sandler defines:
Agents are embedded in a social network. They choose how much to experiment with the innovation, and they share all resulting information with their neighbors. Over time, agents update their beliefs about the innovation’s merits, and they continue using the innovation only if they are sufficiently optimistic.
Social networks have been evolving for a minute
The evolution of social networks has been tinkered with and imagined for a while. In 2019, NFX founder James Currier wrote about Market Networks, describing a new iteration of the social network, one that has marketplace dynamics embedded within and allows participants to perform economic transactions with each other.
Market Network - a better explanation of Web3
He highlighted the following key characteristics of market networks:
- Market networks target more complex services
- People matter
- Collaboration happens around a project
- They have unique profiles of the people involved
- They help build long-term relationships
- Referrals flow freely
- They increase transaction velocity and satisfaction
Just by adding the words L1s (for "Layer 1," as in, L1 blockchains), tokens, DAOs, and NFTs (for "non-fungible tokens," or items unique to each owner) to his thesis, paints an eerily familiar and prescient description of Web3 today— a quick reminder that in 2019, Web3 didn't even exist as a concept in people's imaginations.
This iteration of the network is empowering the rise of the networked society
Because of the way these networks are designed to freely permit the transit of people, applications, and data, it may be possible that we will see the rise of a new type of societal organization, the networked society, or in other words, social networks 2.0 - powering a new take on capitalism.
The cornerstones of this new paradigm
- Programmable organizations
- Code-enforceable agreements
- Digital Assets with well defined property-rights
It's not about technology; it's about transforming how goods, services, and capital flow across our planet.
We must work together to build a better future.
It's been almost fifteen years since the first social networks were engrained in our lives, and now, with the benefit of hindsight gained from a decade of living with crypto and blockchains, we can self-determine the future of the internet.