Andreessen Horowitz executive sees ‘promising avenues’ for Web3 social platform

An executive at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z) believes that Web3 has a solution to the headaches and problems found on Web2-based social media platforms.

During a keynote at the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC), a16z partner Sriram Krishnan shared a presentation detailing how Web3 could fix social media and consumer applications.

Krishnan insisted that “the world of social media is stuck in a different era, and things need to change.” The executive said that his goal in the presentation was to convince the audience that “now is the time to build a crypto consumer social media marketplace application at scale.”

Krishnan, who also worked at major social media companies such as Meta and Twitter, highlighted some of the generalities that modern social media platforms currently operate under. This involves locking followers to a specific platform. He said, “You can’t take them with you when you leave.”

In addition, social network platforms lack application programming interface support, with little economic benefit for creators, and they do not allow users and creators to have a say in terms of platform governance.

The executive believes that there are promising avenues and opportunities for the Web3 social platform based on these issues. These include targeting disadvantaged communities and high-status individuals who do not have a voice on other platforms and an immediate focus on financial incentives.

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Contrary to popular attitudes where Web3 is being marketed as a way for creators to get paid more, the executive believes that another promising path that could be widely adopted is through social media. Refrain from introducing financial incentives at the beginning of stage building. he explained:

“The dynamics of social media are strange and complex. These are complex human dynamics, and when you introduce money, I think it becomes challenging to portray those dynamics.

Krishnan also pointed out that offering instant money puts the focus on the monetary element, rather than just posting for fun and bringing communities together.

However, this does not mean that they should never introduce financial mechanisms. Krishnan highlighted that crypto projects have the power to eventually introduce maker economics and give governance stakes to those who use their platform.

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