Web3: Metaphors to Organise by

Why is this an important part of collective imagination practice?

Web3 is the developmental phase of the internet (coming after phases 1 & 2) which enables us to collect into DAOs (Decentralised Autonomous Organisations), digitally. That means making decisions and working together through these organisations. So Web3 and DOAs offer an organisational structure for collectiveness and therefore also for collective imagination to be explored and shared; no matter what that imagination is about.

The video of the session below will expand on this foundation and will guide us in moving away from the capitalist and often abstract metaphors which have dominated Web3 explanation, and invite us to work with much more embodied metaphors. By doing this we can all become awakened in our bodily sensations to what Web3 might offer and potentially grow some new language to support web3 collective imagination practitioners explain their work and get more people excited and involved (especially ones like me who are scared of tech).

Part 1 — getting our heads round web3 and DAOs

Honestly a Hannah-summary right here isn’t going to do you any favours; the video has it all and here too is the explanation from Anna Rose lifted from her blog about it:

Before delving into the practical applications of Web3, it’s essential to understand what it is. I like to describe Web3 as the third iteration of the internet:

The World Wide Web emerged in the mid-1990s, marked by simple personal websites, early online communities and of course Neopets.

Web2.0, in the mid-2000s, introduced social media and interactive content, shifting from one-to-one to one-to-many interactions that are hosted on corporate platforms like Facebook.

Emerging in the mid-2010s, Web3 is characterised by technologies like blockchain and decentralised applications. It aims to democratise the internet further, allowing peer-to-peer interactions without intermediaries, offering new possibilities like cryptocurrencies and decentralised finance.

Part 2 — Web3 and capitalism

One significant issue with Web3 is the heavy borrowing of overly financialised language, including terms like “wallets” and “-currency”. This language has led to some hyper-capitalist gold rushes on the tech, but it’s essential to recognise that the underlying blockchain technology is neutral. People are actively working on reducing its environmental impact, and numerous world changing ideas are being developed using blockchain.

Rather than getting into the intricacies of how blockchain technology works, I like the similar metaphor of honeycomb. You don’t need to understand the chemical components of honeycomb to have a conversation about the ethics of farming bees; much like you don’t need to understand the software blockchain is built on to discuss its applications.

Just as honeycomb stores honey, blockchain stores data. The honeycomb in a beehive is a secure structure, much like blockchain, with no single entity having control. Bees work together to achieve common goals, just as blockchain participants collaborate to validate transactions, ensuring network security.

Similar to bees’ transparent activities within a hive, blockchain transactions are visible to all participants, fostering trust and accountability. No single bee can disrupt the hive’s activities, and blockchain employs cryptographic techniques to secure data, safeguarding it from external threats.

In the metaphor, we are the flowers relying on the network of bees to distribute pollen. In Web3, individuals use “wallets” to store information or tokens on the blockchain. Wallets act as intermediaries, similar to bees between flowers and the honeycomb.

Part 3 — How we can use web3 for collective imagination?

Tokens within Web3 have various functions. For example, the $LOVE currency tokens in my wallet represent a contribution I made to UkraineDAO and now hold an insignificant monetary value serving primarily as a symbol. On the day Russia declared war, UkraineDAO used blockchain to raise funds quickly and efficiently, circumventing traditional banks many of which had frozen the accounts of people in Ukraine.

Within Radar DAO (a DAO which centres the collective imagining of better futures), a token called $SIGNAL can be sent as a sign of appreciation and used for voting on projects. These tokens recognise and reward community members, reducing hierarchy within the community.

Tokens are particularly powerful when tied to governance. In the case of Arkive, a decentralised museum, community members can earn points by engaging in the community (saying “gm” to each other or voting on which artworks we acquire). These points correlate with decision-making power. Web3 incentivises individuals to contribute their experience and knowledge to vital community decisions.

But when tokens could be literally anything, why are they currencies, points to be accumulated and POWER to be gained? I think it’s simply because these are the metaphors we all understand living under the sun of capitalism. What if instead of sending points you could send someone water or sunlight? Rather than having your power grow within a governance structure, what if your wisdom expanded?

Part 4 — Imagination practice to reimagine Web3 metaphors; lets try!

Anna Rose took us through a process for exploring how non-capitalist metaphorical prompts might inspire us to imagine DAOs and their potential differently and communicate these differently too.

We were organised into break-out groups of 3–4 people and given access to a miro board that Anna Rose had prepared ahead. On the board was a rich selection of metaphors taken from nature eg. Each metaphor was presented with an image and then in our groups, we were guided by prompt questions to draw out new language for describing the nature and potential of Web3. The image below shows the prompt images and questions and what we generated:

This practice was wonderfully juicy and carefully crafted for this Web3 topic. But it is also a practice you could use to explore any question/topic in which you want to disrupt current ways of thinking about it and any cultural baggage or limitations that come with that.

By reimagining the metaphors for Web3, we can inspire more projects to utilise Web3 technology for the greater good.

Imagine what we could achieve by working together, where contributions are automatically acknowledged, meaningful interactions are incentivised, and individual input is correlated with decision-making power. In this vision, Web3 has the potential to truly democratise and empower communities in the digital age.

Part 5 — A final bonus: Our Web3 metaphors are now NFTs!

After our session Anna Rose turned all the metaphors we dreamed up into NFTs, so all four are available. These cost about £1 each. Grab them whilst they are hot!!!!