Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement last month that Facebook is rebranding as Meta shows that things are changing—and have been in the process of changing for a while—in the technology space. With all the privacy issues and other scandals that Facebook has faced over the years, it’s also no surprise. Mark knows what he’s doing—he knows that creators are looking for more ways to monetize their brands and that they are not going to need a centralized authority like Facebook or Instagram to connect with their target audiences.
There are trillions of dollars in unlocked wealth within the creator economy, and creators are going to use emerging technologies, like blockchain, as well as the growing trend of decentralization to tap it. Essentially, we are putting power back into the creator’s hands.
What is emerging technology?
In a general sense, emerging technology is any technology that is new, either through invention or the development of existing technology. Emerging technology is typically expected to be available on a widespread scale within five to 10 years and usually leads to large social or economic changes.
Blockchain is one of the singular emerging technologies in today’s rapidly changing world. When most people hear the word blockchain, they think of cryptocurrency—or perhaps Bitcoin, the most widely known form of crypto—but blockchain has so many more applications that we are just starting to see.
One such application is gaining traction within the creator economy.
The Creator Economy and Blockchain
Over the past several years, we have witnessed the rise of the creator economy—composed of the businesses and individuals engaged in content creation and curation, this economy has boomed. In terms of funding, the creator economy has seen a record $1.3 billion in 2021, with investors scrambling to get a piece of the pie.
Up until now, these creators have had to use the platforms available to them—giants like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, come to mind, as well as other lesser-known though still powerful platforms. This was good for the platforms, who profited off all the user data that these creators generated (and we all know how that turned out, a la the Cambridge Analytica scandal). In return, creators got a relatively small cut of the profits for the work they create for consumption on these platforms.
Now we’re seeing a shift from such centralized platforms to decentralized networks thanks to blockchain technology.
Putting the Power Back in the Creator’s Hands
What does this mean for creators? It essentially takes a lot of the power away from these big-name platforms and places it directly in the creator’s hands. Many creators have already seen a huge bump in their earnings by monetizing NFTs of their creations and selling them to their audiences.
We are seeing a paradigm shift in real time with the changes that are starting to take place thanks to the use of blockchain in the creator economy. Keep your eyes on the impending updates. They’re going to change everything.