Web3 Companies Alienating Users: Lessons Drawn from Reddit and Twitter

By: Isha Das

The rapidly evolving technology landscape often overlooks a fundamental principle: understanding the consumer. Tech companies, both Silicon Valley giants and Web3 startups, often prioritize creating new technology, sometimes to the detriment of their user base. This oversight of user preferences can determine the success or failure of a product.

Examples of this can be seen in both Reddit and Twitter. Reddit recently banned third-party applications that users favored, causing a massive upheaval in the community. While the Twitter takeover by Elon Musk led to dramatic changes, limiting application usability for unverified users, and laying off 80% of the workforce.

Similarly, Web3 is also overlooking consumer desires, focusing on metrics like total value locked (TVL) and targeting whales. However, targeting Web3 natives risks complex onboarding processes that go beyond the needs for mass adoption. Web3 will thrive when users can engage with apps and projects without realizing they have moved on-chain. Adoption depends on seamless user experience and value-add applications that currently seem lacking in most Web3 applications.

As Web3 grapples with these consumer-centric challenges, consolidation is also happening in the sector. Decrypt Media Inc. and Rug Radio are merging to create a global Web3 publishing company, an attempt to harness emerging opportunities in this space.