There’s a growing recognition that technology should not just be innovative, but also inclusive. As we move towards a decentralized future, it’s crucial to ensure that these advancements are accessible to everyone, not just the tech-savvy. This is where empathy-driven design comes into play—an approach that prioritizes user-friendly experiences and puts people at the center of technological innovation.

When Elon Musk brought the sink into the Twitter headquarters in his takeover, thousands of users sought a different kind of social media experience—one that prioritizes people over profits. Users were looking for platforms where community is more important than virality, where people get increased autonomy over algorithmic control. A human web. Here’s how Mastodon’s approach, a human-centric mindset, brings a more humane digital future.

For too long, the narrative has been dominated by hype, numbers—metrics, valuations, and growth rates. Degens have been in control. But what if we shifted our focus away from the tech-first approach and instead prioritized the well-being of the people who will inhabit our web?

Every wallet address, every avatar, almost every like in our web represents a real person with dreams, fears, and aspirations. They are not just data points or economic actors; they are individuals with personal and professional lives. Our lives are rich and complex, and our reality is calling for our attention. For Web3 technology to fully consider our life situations, and create a better society and consider our well-being, we need to put people first.

Are we losing sight of what truly matters in our beloved digital web: genuine human connections? We are bombarded daily with sneaky sales contacts, thinly veiled as networking opportunities. I’m getting worried—are we merely creating another digital platform for transactional interactions? The genuine will to meet people, understand their needs, and support them has taken a backseat to the relentless pursuit of profit.

We are driven by survival, connection, and have a knack for figuring things out. Master Yoda would say, “Curious humans are.” But what kind of digital Web3 are we creating that meets our natural behavior?

Web3 was supposed to set us free. More autonomy. More ownership. More control. But after a weekend on a tiny island in Sweden, I’m starting to wonder: is it actually making life easier—or just pushing us deeper into a digital existence?

The web algorithm has figured out that fear keeps us engaged longer than nuance ever will. This is a problem because fear brings chaos, misinformation, and crap to our beloved web. It’s not a coincidence. A study by MIT found that false news spreads six times faster than real news. Why? Because misinformation is designed to trigger reactions, and reactions mean engagement. And in Web2, engagement equals profit.

Back in the day, we scrolled through the internet aimlessly, clicking on things because we were curious. We liked posts because we actually liked them. We read articles because we wanted to, not because they were engineered to keep us hooked. Then, a few greedy tech companies realized that our behavior is programmable.