An interesting layer of the emerging Web3 space is social media. There is still no company that has made a considerable impression in the space and captured a dominant share of the market, despite many claiming that social media is ready to be affected by the technology that Web3 can offer. This is becoming an even more urgent area in the current era, where social media platforms are facing controversy over what constitutes free speech and the power that centralized companies have. Not to mention billionaires launching offers to make prominent social media sites private. I interviewed CyberConnect co-founder and CEO Wilson Wei after the launch of his inaugural product, Link3, in order to gain some insights into this area. As a social network of verifiable identities, Link3 will use both on-chain and off-chain data to provide verifiable information. Link3’s profile page also serves as a holistic identity, which CyberConnect claims will enable more trusted networking and meaningful connections between users and organizations. It’s a new concept, and coming at such a poignant time with regards to the broader market and society’s view of social media, it presents itself as an interesting interview.
CoinJournal (CJ): How damaging do you think the bear market is here in terms of persuading normal people to emigrate from mainstream social media to this new blockchain-dominated version? Psychologically, do you think it will be harder to gain strength now?
Wilson Wei (WW): The interest of Web2 users has definitely waned due to the market. However, the vision of Web3 Social and Link3/CyberConnect is to build a better Internet with verifiable, holistic identities that promote trust, more meaningful connections, and better user control over their data. It’s an improvement over what we had in conventional social media and a correction to where we strayed from previous Web2 models. Blockchain and cryptography, among other things, are what make this vision possible now and are critical tools, but not the ends themselves. Everyone deserves better digital social experiences and users will vote for better services with their time and choice.
CJ: Do you think the power of centralized social media companies like Meta needs to be curbed?
WW: Yes, we believe in a user-centric model for the entire web. It’s not that centralized social media companies are inevitably bad, but that users should have ultimate control and choice over which services they want to use and how their digital identities can be used.
CJ: There are several competitors in this space – what sets Link3 apart?
WW:
More dimensions for identity; verifiable; relational identity. At Web2, we keep our persona public by following people, posting content, and testing all sorts of attributes and preferences. Additionally, Link3 brings a new set of dimensions that tell a more authentic and complete story about who you are:
connections that you have with other people and organizations, regardless of platforms;
active that you have that represent your status and tastes;
credentials issued by third parties such as DAOs and projects about their main accomplishments and functions; and everyone else chain activity records, such as votes and donations, which attest to their involvement in the communities. An endogenous layer of trust will grow from all these additional dimensions of contexts and meanings because they are verifiable. Comprised of all these connections and registers, relational identities like these are organic and evolving, authentic and trustworthy, rich in context and meaningful, just as we are as social beings and would like everyone to be in vital relationships.
CJ: What do you believe is the future for both Web3 social networks, but also for conventional companies like TikTok and Facebook?
WW:
User-centric and self-sovereign: As we mentioned in the answer above. Users must be the basic nexus of the web and users must have ultimate control and choice over which services they want to use and how their digital identities can be used. Verifiable and Trustworthy: As Link3’s core value proposition, the future of social media must have a fabric of trust built into it. This is essential to fully unlocking the positive potential of connection in human societies and enabling better collaborations. And we believe the key to that is the verifiability of some key and diverse dimensions of digital identities. Open, Portable and Composable: Similar to the user-centric idea, the new vision of better social networks should not lock users or user data within the walls of individual platforms. Users must be able to bring their connections, interests and all other significant data that are part of their identity to whatever platform or service they prefer. It also means that developers and service providers will be able to rely on the data to deliver smoother, context-rich experiences.
CJ: You recently had a successful Series A fundraising round that ended in May. Were you relieved to close this before the full extent of contagion and slowdown came into play?
WW:
We were prepared and always committed to building in the recession. As a serial entrepreneurial team with over 7 years in social, Web3 and blockchain, past experiences have taught us that it is crucial to keep building during crises. Despite the challenges, bear markets are a great time to focus on building, shipping and creating value. It will also be easier for truly visionary and value-creating projects to be properly recognized as the noise will subside along with the market hype. We really appreciate all of our amazing supporters for their trust and support. They are a very select group of partners who have a long-term belief in Web3, share the mission with us, place tremendous trust in our team and provide all the support we need beyond the financial. We are blessed and well equipped to have you with us on this journey. “Social” will be the most important part of Web3. “Connecting everyone on Web3” is an ambitious and challenging mission. We have built a great team with excellent knowledge and experience. With the support of our incredible investors, we are well-prepared to build and create long-term value, even during the potential winter.
CJ: What’s the best way to promote adoption here? Would you consider trying to attract current social media influencers to Web3 to promote the platform?
WW:
We are addressing native Web3 users first with the plan to expand to Web2 users later. For the first phase, we are leveraging existing data related to the address of current Web3 users to build a trusted network of verifiable and holistic identities. We first target Web3 professionals and organizations and aim to solve the problem of spam bots prevalent today. As for growth strategies, we’ll introduce key use cases to drive adoption and plan campaigns around these capabilities. Some examples are: For users: Share your profile in a specially designed business card format to quickly show who you are and why connections will be valuable. Use your profile to submit applications and save all the redundant processes of filling in forms and sending supporting documents. Focus your DM on more than pay or assets, and instead invite people with traits, backgrounds, and abilities that you truly value. Delegate your vote to the people you have significant connections with and who you really trust about who they are in the community. For organizations: Use Link3 as the complete link that helps followers discover everything about the project in one place. Build native Web3 communities and unlock the ability to interact with them through token-controlled events, airdrops and more.
