According to iResearch's "2022 Internet Creator Economy White Paper", the creator economy refers to "Internet content creators generating economic benefits with the help of creation tools, content distribution platforms and a series of other creator-related services."
Among them, Internet creators said that it was actually born in the web2 era.
Websites in the web1 era were composed of static pages, and the vast majority of users were just consumers of content. In the web2 era, the interactivity and usability of websites have increased, and with the optimization and upgrade of mobile terminals, users can interact and collaborate with each other through media, thereby becoming creators of user-generated content in virtual communities. Douyin, Weibo, Zhihu, Douban... examples of public participation in content production can be seen everywhere.
However, Internet content creation and production are not equivalent to the creator economy. Although the concept of "creator economy" originated in the web2 era when online content creation was popularized, its true realization will be in web3.
Web3 technologies—including virtual and augmented reality, machine learning, artificial intelligence, blockchain, smart contracts, and more—will solve the problems faced by creators in the web2 era and revolutionize the way content is created, claimed, and paid. Promote the advent of the creator economy.
Web3 solves ownership issues
Internet content creators in the Web2 era mainly rely on technology giants that provide services and platforms. These centralized companies have the right to review/review their works.
At this time, if the platform believes that the creator's content does not comply with their policies, they can prohibit uploading or delete it. Therefore, the creator actually lacks creative freedom. I believe many people have also encountered the videos, articles or videos they uploaded. A situation where a review is accidentally removed from the shelves.
In addition, the platform cannot well solve the problems of piracy and illegal copying in the face of large amounts of content production. For example, on Douyin, the popularity of a celebrity will cause a large number of people to imitate, and their works and personal information are often stolen.
Under such circumstances, it is often difficult for “plagiarized persons” and “misappropriated persons” to successfully defend their rights, and the rights of creators are greatly infringed.
Web3's blockchain technology and smart contracts can solve these problems very well. One of the fundamental properties of blockchain is that once something is on the chain, it cannot be altered or counterfeited. So by using NFTs based on blockchain technology, content begins to be owned by the creator.
NFT serves as a proof of ownership to verify the authenticity of the content, effectively avoiding the risk of counterfeiting or misappropriation of the creative content. The Web3 era is a decentralized era, where creators can publish and sell their works independently and no longer need to rely on centralized platforms.
In this way, the censorship/review power of platforms and technology giants is eliminated, and the phenomenon of taking down and deleting creators' works no longer exists, thus further protecting the creators' ownership rights.
In addition, in Web3, users can selectively present personally identifiable information to prove their identity while protecting privacy.
According to Baidu Encyclopedia, "A smart contract is a computer protocol designed to communicate, verify, or execute contracts in an information-based manner. Smart contracts allow trusted transactions without third parties that are traceable and irreversible."
If blockchain technology confirms the rights of creators, smart contracts record the transfer of ownership in works transactions, ensuring the transparency and security of the process. Blockchain and smart contracts together solve the problem of unclear ownership of creative content in the web2 era.
Web3 increases creative revenue
The creator economy is a brand new business model born out of the rapid development of the Internet. It is based on a large group of Internet creators and needs to effectively bring good economic benefits to creators.
In the Web2 era, due to reliance on centralized companies that provide platform services, a large part of creators' income has to be paid to third parties as service fees. In the end, the income received by creators is very small compared to the benefits obtained by third parties.
Here are some examples that may be more intuitive: Each song played once by a paid account on Spotify only generates a copyright fee of US$0.004; only 0.33% of YouTube creators earn full-time income; only the top 1% of authors on Amazon can Earn 1,000 US dollars in one month; after opening creative incentives on Bilibili, the income for every 10,000 views is around 17 yuan.
Creators in the Web2 era use advertisements to earn income more than creating the content itself.
But in Web3, everyone can truly have the opportunity to get corresponding rewards and attention through their efforts. As mentioned above, creators can publish and sell their works independently on Web3.
Therefore, the revenue from the work no longer needs to be shared with third-party organizations, and creators can more directly earn more income from content creation itself. At the same time, Web3’s virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning and other technologies can also expand the way of content creation.
In the period of traditional media, content refers more to written works; in the period of new media and media integration, content covers video, text, audio, etc.; to Web3, so-called content creation will be more closely integrated with technology, and derivatives In addition to text, video, and audio, there are more forms, such as NFT art, digital people, etc.
The increasing number of content forms and creation methods means an increase in income channels for creators, which also provides opportunities to increase creative income.
Web3 improves the development ecology of the creator economy
In Web3, blockchain technology puts power in the hands of content creators like never before. In addition to the ownership and income issues mentioned above, content creators can also plan their own careers and have the right to formulate their own series of terms related to their works.
For example, creators can use blockchain technology to stipulate the selling price range of works and the welfare of fans, and creators can directly manage related platforms and websites, etc.
In addition, Web3 can also solve the problem of difficult traceability in content creation in the past. In the world of the Internet, many content creations are based on previous works, such as "ghost videos" and film and television commentary.
In terms of the creator economy, the creators of these previous works should be compensated accordingly. But under the current conditions, after rounds of creation, it is difficult to trace the history of adaptation of many works. With NFT, the source information will be recorded on the blockchain, which cannot be tampered with and is publicly visible.
At the same time, smart contracts can also directly give corresponding rewards to the adapted objects. In this way, when the value of content is more widely recognized, the creative enthusiasm of creators will be greatly mobilized.
Next, in Web3, fans and content consumers can directly participate in the creator economy. The decentralization of websites and platforms has shortened the distance between creators and fans, and fans have the opportunity to have a deeper understanding of the creation process and connotation of the works.
Fans obtain certain content ownership by purchasing NFT of works. When the NFT appreciates in value or the creator becomes popular, they can get huge returns from it. This will incentivize fans to invest in creators and even sponsor newbies who are just starting out.
At this point, a complete creator economic ecosystem has been formed, in which content producers and consumers at all levels can participate and have the opportunity to profit.
summary
Web3, which covers blockchain, smart contracts, virtual reality and augmented reality, machine learning, artificial intelligence and other technologies, can help Internet creators to confirm ownership, increase creative income, and promote the formation of a complete economic ecosystem for creators.
Combined with what Bill Gates said - for the Internet to flourish, content providers must receive reasonable remuneration from their works. Web3 will undoubtedly make a huge contribution to protecting the rights of creators and prospering the Internet.
Of course, the current Web3 still has many shortcomings, such as the relevant technology is not mature enough, there are too few participating users, and NFT is over-hyped. In order for Web3 to develop better and faster, these issues must be taken seriously and resolved in a timely manner.
Taking into account the efforts of various countries around the world in the field of Web3, we have reason to believe that the Web3 era will arrive in the near future, and a better economic ecology for creators will be truly realized by then.
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