What ‘Social Good’ Looks Like in Web3
By Greg Kahn
Emerging Tech Exchange
Founder & CEO
Published on April 25, 2023
Views about the value of the metaverse and web3 immersive can often run in two fairly cynical directions.
One side tends to look at the possibilities of blockchain and related technologies like NFTs and just see dollar signs. No other kind of return on investment is even worth talking about.
Another side views the ideas like the metaverse as another shallow form of meaningless connection and commerce.
Any idealist who talks about using web3, blockchain, NFTs, mixed reality technology to promote actual social good is dismissed as either naive or a charlatan looking for cover for another to simply make a buck.
It’s understandable. But it’s the web2 world that demanded centralization, walled gardens, and selling attention in the form of consumer data in exchange for services is what web3 was meant to correct from the start.
Too many “web2 values” have informed the way use cases have been presented about these new technologies. But web3 is predicated on users owning their data. It’s predicated on open exchanges of information and goods. That’s why loyalty is cited as the primary benefit of web3 worlds.
This is the moment when investors, brands, content owners, and all businesses and trade groups can make a concerted effort to find ways to address social ills with ideas for positive change using web3.
It’s the only way to avoid the bitter divisions, the feelings of helplessness, the doubts about the future that have made any technological advancements like generative artificial intelligence suspect. Even Elon Musk signed that letter seeking to pause development of tools like ChatGPT, right? (Yes, in the ultimate sign of cynicism, he quickly declared his own generative AI effort).
Business and public service organizations have done so much to make our lives so much better than it was 80 years ago. There’s no reason we can’t have initiatives and programs that make the next 80 even brighter.
I’m going to do my best to make that happen within my Ad Council role. But I am also looking to share the work and inspiration with all of you as well.
Greg Kahn
Emerging Tech Exchange
Founder & CEO
