Andreessen Horowitz’s Sriram Krishnan on crypto social networking

It is hard to argue that mainstream consumers have lined up to embrace web3 internet services despite the fact that it is less expensive. There have been some flash-in-the-pan hits, but investors are still looking for consumer use cases that make the most of the technology.

The incentive structures of web3 make it a good fit for social networking, according to GP Sriram Krishnan. Prior to joining a16z, Krishnan worked as an executive at several web 2.0 social networking companies.

People ask me, "What is the thing that you're spending a lot of time on, that you really want to know?" Krishnan made a statement. The intersection of social media and web3 is interesting.

While web3 has yet to see a platform equivalent ofTwitter or Facebook take off, Krishnan believes the structure of the platform provides some interesting incentives to bring creators into their networks, which could in turn bring along their audiences. He says that some of the most popular existing social media services don't give content creators the financial upside of the network itself because they don't index on the sell of providing a platform with reach.

Krishnan says that people who contribute value to the platform now have a piece of the economics happening in the platform itself. The spiritual equivalent of a place on the cap table can be found in some social media.

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Kirshnan mentioned mechanisms that allow stakeholders in a platform or protocol to make decisions about how that project matures, something he notes is foreign to existing ideas of how Big Tech companies interact with their most popular content.

You now have a say in the governance of the platform with web3. The power dynamic between creators and the social media platforms has been opened up by it.

According to Krishnan, the open nature of web3 means that clients will be more beholden to the interests of their users, because users could more easily take their assets and content to a new platform if they feel their interests aren't being represented

One of the web3 social things he likes is the right of exit.

Web3 social is fairly theoretical at the moment, and while a few startups have tried to make a splash, the onboarding hassles for users getting wallet, buying token and joining a platform are still much more difficult than the experiences on more streamlined sites. VCs like Krishnan hope that some of the issues are just growing pains that will be solved in the future.

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