If you’ve seen the documentary “Fantastic Fungi” there’s a clue as to how we can restore the health of the internet for creators, and in doing so, improve individual and collective well being.

When you think about it, the internet - like most technology - mimics nature.

Specifically, the internet is similar to the mycelium network that runs throughout the forest. This is an interconnected web of mushroom like structures that are vital to the health of every ecosystem.

Likewise, our beloved internet has become vital to our health and well being as we depend on it more and more for everything we do. However, the internet currently has a fungus that has caused dysfunction. 

We can restore the health of our digital ecosystem in the same ways we’re working restore the organic ones, by becoming stewards rather than simply “users” and seeing its health as our collective responsibility rather than something someone else will fix.

 In fact, when we restore the health of the internet we will restore the health of the Earth because messaging, media and content can reach consensus faster than ever before - look what happened with the pandemic.

One of the tools opening up this possibility is web3 - the next version of the internet where more creators, not just companies, determine outcomes and influence decisions about how things are created and consumed.

Through the use of blockchain technology, we can create “layers” of the internet that work with familiar platforms to exponentially enhance our experiences online.

Without getting too technical, think of how you might create a written article such as this one. If you’re writing it to maximize engagement on social media, you are incentivized to capture people’s attention. 

In this pursuit of capturing attention, you may write things that you don’t really mean or don’t personally find to be true because you know it will capture attention. 

This creates a fungus within the internet ecosystem, the core of which is driven by superficial validation and attention seeking. 

We can remedy this by re-orienting the incentives by which creators and curators engage with content that rewards for authenticity, rather than superficiality.

More on this and the intersection of web3, consciousness and the creator economy in my next article.