{"id":2199,"date":"2025-03-13T17:36:02","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T17:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/?p=2199"},"modified":"2025-03-13T17:36:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T17:36:05","slug":"we-dont-need-a-smarter-internet-we-need-a-kinder-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/?p=2199","title":{"rendered":"We Don\u2019t Need a Smarter Internet\u2013 We Need a Kinder One"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

We Don\u2019t Need a Smarter Internet\u2013We Need a Kinder One<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes\u2014Web3 was supposed to fix this with decentralization, ownership, and freedom!
But I have a fear that instead of doomscrolling, we are building tokenized engagement loops. Instead of being trapped by algorithms, we\u2019ll be trapped by financial incentives. And suddenly, “digital ownership” might just mean we own a piece of our own exploitation. It\u2019s like paid doomscrolling. That\u2019s not the experience I want in the human web we are creating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do not get me wrong. Web3 has tremendous potential; that is why we need to consider where we are heading.
I have previously touched upon the fact that we have already turned our lives into content. We monetized our hobbies. We branded our personalities. I agree with a friendly follower on LinkedIn who said, \u201cBack in the day, the internet felt genuine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great news, some Web3 projects are asking the right questions:
Twimbit is trying to make research more accessible instead of just viral. WeAre8 wants to reshape social media so that engagement isn\u2019t just about outrage and dopamine hits.The Prosocial Media Movement is working on ways to build online spaces that reward thoughtful interaction over emotional knee-jerk responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not saying that these projects are the panacea for Web2\u2019s disease. But at least they\u2019re recognizing the problem.
The issue isn\u2019t that the internet is getting (AI) smart. It\u2019s that it\u2019s getting better at manipulating us. AI-driven algorithms, engagement-based incentives, and financialization are all shaping how we think, feel, and interact\u2026and slowly killing many professions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do not have the answers to all the questions. But we need to consider if we are building an internet that empowers us, or one that turns us into highly efficient, DEEPLY predictable consumers? Is it too much to ask for Web3 that is kind to our needs and considers our well-being as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s soften the sharp greedy corners of the old Web2 structure with human-centric ideas and values. Let\u2019s make the web kind again\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2200,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","wds_primary_category":136,"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[43],"class_list":["post-2199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-web3","tag-web3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2201,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199\/revisions\/2201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptobeyer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}