There’s the no better alternative to building a new community than by engaging in other communities, and there are tons of communities already thriving in Web3 – though they may be somewhat obscured.

➡️A QUICK BREAKDOWN OF THE BEST ORGANIC SOCIAL PLATFORMS FOR WEB3 COMMUNITIES

Though Web3 is changing the way we approach social with the advent of the Metaverse, there is still a thriving community to engage with and approach through traditional media. Here’s a quick breakdown of the various platforms and the best use cases for each.

Twitter: Widely considered the choice social media platform for Web3 conversations, Twitter is a space for active discussion and diving deep into threads driven by Web3 communities. Most prominent founders and leaders in the space have an active Twitter following, and siphoning members of other communities can be as simple as joining the conversation in a thread and offering a unique or informed perspective to validate your voice.

TikTok: Often referred to as Crypt-Tok, TikTok has proven as a fertile ground for crypto enthusiasts and influencers eager to share their experiences with new projects and products and educate communities through content — shining a light on what’s new, best practices, and other valuable nuggets of information. Despite having a somewhat adversarial early relationship with Web3, and more specifically cryptocurrency, the platform has brought down its guard and is embracing conversations about Web3 – so long as they don’t cross into the territory of financial advice.

Instagram: The original image-driven platform can be an excellent space for showcasing your NFT projects or sharing bite-sized breakdown pieces in the form of carousels, stories, and reels. Once the darling of the social media space, Instagram’s notoriously unpredictable and often changing algorithm can be intimidating for those new to the space. However, there is still value to be found in engaging with those who are crypto-curious or straight-up enthusiasts on the platform.

Facebook: Often dismissed as advertisers continue to focus more heavily on Gen-Zers, there is still reason to utilize the platform while Web3 continues its push towards mass adoption in hopes of replacing traditional banking. With the recent shift in Facebook’s name to Meta, we’ll likely see a shift coming from them in the near future to focus more directly on Web3 – potentially making them a more substantial space for those looking to build community.

Reddit: Reddit can be a community that some find intimidating if they’re not familiar with the platform and the culture, but there are very dedicated Web3 communities to be found here. Subreddits like /r/cryptocurrency have frequent discussions on the current status and future of crypto at large and even host weekly “sceptics” threads which provide a wealth of information from potential future adopters which can be extremely insightful in addressing potential pitfalls as you build your community.

➡️ A QUICK BREAKDOWN OF THE BEST ALT-SOCIAL PLATFORMS FOR BUILDING COMMUNITY

Discord: An incredibly powerful chat tool for building communities was once pioneered almost exclusively by the gaming community, and Discord has proven to be a new favourite for Web3 communities. Driven by the ability to cultivate and curate your channel to your specifications, develop reward programs, customize emotes, stream content, and a plethora of other options, it is an extremely useful tool to build community and engage with others.

Facebook Groups: With 620 Million groups for purposes ranging from woodworking to kombucha making, Facebook retains some relevance in the Web3 discussion outside of their name switch to Meta. Many people in the Web3 space have found highly curated groups on Facebook with deeply vested interests in Web3, with the space being almost universally touted as a gem for the community.

➡️ BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH NFTS

Several approaches to utilizing NFTs in your creative community building extend beyond their conceptual deployment as digitally scarce art pieces. Similar to access tokens, these unique tokens can be distributed as a culture play to attract people to your project who share similar values or interests.

One of the most recent developments in the NFT space that shows a great deal of promise for the Web3 communities’ future is what is being called the “Proof of Attendance Protocol.” These are NFTs that are minted and gifted to attendees at certain events, concerts, galleries, restaurants, etc., which are unique to the user and act as not only proof that they were where they said they were (FOMO anyone) but also act as a digital archive of their experiences – similar to keeping old concert tickets stowed away for memories.

They can also be utilized as a training mechanism for newcomers to the space to help allow users to dip their toes into the water rather than leap in head first. For example, Solana recently launched an incredibly clever NFT project in conjunction with the launch of their proprietary hardware wallet – wherein users purchase an NFT of the wallet, which they can then exchange for the wallet itself.

Many early adopters of modern social media and low-no-code spaces that are commonplace today found success in being ahead of the crowd. We’re seeing this happen again with TikTok as brands and individuals outside of the Gen-Z demographic the platform is known to attract begin to make the migration in an attempt to “beat the rush”.
The most certain thing that we know about the future of Web3 now is that, if we look at the timelines for Web1 to Web2 and the creation of Web3 to now, the space is poised for mass adoption as we encroach upon peak social and users are looking for the next thing – whether they realize it or not.