Gaming and Social Media in Web3: Spearheading Mass Adoption

With the advent of Blockchain technology, we are now moving towards a more elevated culture of decentralization. While people are curious about Web3 and the number of use cases keeps increasing gradually, it is yet to gain mainstream acceptance. The technology is useful, but it is far from becoming a part and parcel of a user's life. The situation with Web3 now is very similar to what it was when Web2.0 started– lots of potential, but yet to offer a strong enough reason that can invoke mass adoption.

However, there is no denying that sooner or later this technology is going to become mainstream. Social media platforms and gaming are two of the innumerable use cases of blockchain that can potentially become the most impactful catalysts to spearhead its mass adoption.

Gaming in Blockchain

Before the advent of NFTs and blockchain, the gaming community was already into buying items that hardly had any relevance outside the games they were playing. Hence, the concept of NFTs, digital assets and crypto aren't that foreign to them. Following the debut of several gaming projects on blockchain, it is safe to assume that the gaming industry will be a big catalyst in driving the masses toward the adoption of this technology.

Web3 games, currently, might not be as popular as traditional games like Fortnite or Minecraft, but the stats are definitely on the rise. When integrating games with blockchain, the games available can be divided into two major categories: the hybrid ones, and the ones that are fully on-chain.

Why Play On-chain?

While it might seem that gamers still prefer traditional games to Web3 games, there is a huge array of benefits that blockchain offers that have the potential to solve the existing issues within the gaming industry and development further. Here are some of the advantages offered through Web3 games:

• Immutable Ownership of the assets
• Protects the time/money investments of the gamers
• Protects players from undesirable actions on the part of creators
• A decentralized distribution network for games.
• Creating more realistic economic systems within games.
• Promotes in-game currency value

Games to Drive Mass Adoption

Esports is the largest entertainment industry, surpassing music and movies. From 8 Billion of the current world population, about 3 Billion of them play video games. More or less, these players are already familiar with the concept of virtual assets and digital currency. This proves that many people are already primed for a gamified digital future.  

Gaming's unique position as a cultural phenomenon with billions of active participants makes it the ideal conduit for Web3 mass adoption. Addressing objections, enhancing ownership, empowering creators, easing development, and ensuring enjoyable gaming experiences are expected to drive this transformation.  Games like Axie Infinity and Cryptokitties have already made a distinguishable name in the industry. Moving forward, the number and popularity of Blockchain-based games will only increase. Gaming is poised to be one of the leading industries to pave the way for the adoption of Web3 technology. As mentioned before, gamers already have a profound familiarity with digital assets, demonstrated by a jaw-dropping $400,000 sale of a digital item in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, conducted entirely in cryptocurrency. Adding on, the industry holds a colossal audience of over 3 billion gamers worldwide, people who are already well-versed in virtual currencies and in-game assets. This massive user base is ideally positioned to embrace the Web3 future. Leading figures in the industry, like Alex Connolly and Yat Siu, have highlighted ga‌ming's significance in trading digital items and its cultural importance.

But it doesn't stop there. In today's gaming landscape, players often can't truly own their in-game items or profit alongside developers and studios. This is where blockchain technology, especially NFTs, comes into play. It enables players to genuinely own in-game assets, granting them the freedom to trade or sell without intermediaries. Moreover, Web3 gaming isn't just about players; it empowers creators and communities. User-generated content (UGC) is already a vital part of games like Minecraft and Roblox, creating a sense of ownership and engagement. Web3 extends this concept by allowing creators to monetize their contributions, enhancing the sense of ownership and interoperability.

Of course there are challenges to overcome, such as improving user experience, scalability, and security, but solutions like the Immutable Passport are being developed to streamline the process. And let's not forget, 'fun' remains paramount. Games must captivate players.

Social Media on the Blockchain    

Mass adoption of any new technology is a strenuous process. Although Web3 and Blockchain are destined to become mainstream at some point, it is worth looking into the ways they can reach that destination. Besides gaming, the other field that stands out in pushing mass adoption of Web3 is social media.

If you look at the year 2004, despite the Internet being full of potential, it was the advent of Facebook that really boomed the user number. Currently, the platform holds about 3 Billion users. This implies that already 3Billion of the world population is using the current internet because of Facebook, alone. This proves how strongly social media platforms can influence an entire population to adopt a certain technology.

While this might not accurately follow in the case of Web3, the advent of Meta is sure to draw considerable traffic in the Web3 space. After having its way in Web2, Facebook with its new form of "Meta" has stepped foot in the Web3 space. Its current goal to build an ideal and interactive metaverse rests on using blockchain technology– ultimately exposing the user base to the Web3 space.

Regardless of Facebook's Meta goals, there have already been a series of social media platforms built on Blockchain with the potential to replace the traditional ones. These applications/platforms concentrate on the shortcomings of the current social media platforms. With the idea of decentralization at the heart of it, decentralized Social media platforms are equipped to remove unnecessary censorship, and problems relating to data ownership, privacy, and security. These are the leading causes of annoyance in users of traditional social media. As opposed to those, web3 social media is community-driven, secure, and reliable. The most appealing advantage of web3 platforms is that they are free from the influence of a centralized authority. Along with this, they also bring the possibility of social finance (SocialFi). Social influence on these networks is tokenized, and users can get direct monetary benefits from being influential figures on these platforms.

The rise of these new social networks like Minds, Mastodoon, Steemit, and their SocialFi integration is probably one of the best uses of blockchain technology and could be at the helm of mass adoption.

Solana as the answer

On the question of on-chain gaming and Social media, there are certain nuances to be addressed. Games and Social media platforms require higher scalability with lesser transaction costs and a user-friendly interface. With traditional blockchains functioning on POW, this could be an impossibility. Especially for the higher transaction costs, and network spamming issues on networks like Ethereum, a full-fledged game worthy of competing against the existing games would be hard to develop. On the other hand, Solana's unique infrastructure of Proof of History and multithreaded processing system allows it to handle transactions in the most efficient and fastest way. Tools like decimated help develop a more user-friendly interface for gaming, minimizing the barriers to entry. Adding on, the chain holds a highly motivated and active community of developers devoted to making the network as beginner-friendly as possible. Considering the positioning of the network and what it has to offer, Solana is the perfect fit for the Blockchain gaming and social media use cases.

Conclusion

The mainstream adoption of Web3 is still on the horizon, with gaming and social media serving as crucial catalysts. Web3 gaming offers appealing features like immutable ownership and decentralized distribution, while decentralized social media platforms address traditional network shortcomings. Solana's infrastructure appears well-suited for these applications. Although challenges remain, the growing gaming community and evolving social media landscape indicate that Web3 will soon become a central part of our digital culture, transforming how we interact and transact online.