💖 Introducing: The State of People

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Introducing: The State of People

Looking at the state of people from the periphery, it’s not hard to see how dire things have gotten. I still wonder if we’ve done enough. I don’t think we have. Therefore, the experiments must continue.

I’m constantly considering all the ways in which we grab onto the webs and branches toward one another as we swing through the treacherous lands of the metaverse.

I've tried many things in the past couple of years and failed at a few of them to varying degrees. But one throughline keeping them each steady is the study of humans.

How we interact with one another, how we are attuned or not to onchain marketing, community formations, relationships and how they are cultivated, and how we form identity markers between one another.

As Steph Alinsug said this past week, crypto is the next-gen marketing tech. So I figure we should at least utilize what’s at our disposal!

Today, I'm announcing a new line of communication between us.

One for a type of curation showcasing the energy of onchain channels like Farcaster, Lens, Fabric, Unlonely, and Disco for better internet conversations.

The State of People

For the past 12 months, I’ve been part of a group of about 20 community strategy professionals in web3 who navigate work in the space. We chat once a month for at least an hour about all things community.

I also have experience hosting this type of show since running successful 12-hour marathon spaces in 2022 and 2023. This time they’ll be much shorter but more frequent as a monthly thing instead of yearly.

In season one, starting the second or third week of April, we’ll open these conversations to a wider group that shares our learnings and brings more of you into the fold.

Topics we intend to curate: all things marketing, community building, and decentralized identity. We’ll get a little esoteric at times, as one does in web3, but try to keep it relatable and, most of all, centering discussions on care for the future State of People.

The goal is to help creators and thinkers cultivate their own relationship with curiosity. While day in and day out we talk at length about the software we’re building, we often neglect to discuss how narratives and culture shifts affect the real people using said tech for the new internet.

This follows the thesis I posted a few days ago.

How it Works

It’s simple: Once a month, we’ll hop on Unlonely, the onchain live-streaming app, for a curated show with a series of guests who give short talks, presentations, DJ interludes, and more to get the creative gears turning.

Since 10-15 minute talks are typically a good length for essays, these speakers may also have partner opportunities with zine makers I work with for additional distribution of their ideas.

Using the /community channel on Farcaster for sharing updates and audience building, Lens for video content distribution, Disco credentials for social graph formation to pull new friends together, and Fabric subscriptions with referral rewards.

Speakers who show up to present their ideas will receive a generous share of that month’s subscriptions to align incentives and provide resources for their time spent.

Subscribers receive an airdrop of various rewards, recaps, and on-air recognition. We look forward to hearing what else subscribers would like to receive from speakers and hosts.

Co-hosts of the /community Farcaster channel are involved in both curation and distribution of media. If you’d like to co-host with us, sponsor, or be a speaker, please indicate on the form below.

Who is Already Involved?

If you’re an internet person thinking about internet people things, send me a DM! You’ll be in line to have space for a short talk along with these fine folks. Note: not all are confirmed; this is a list of those who have shown interest. The final lineup is to be released.

@kianamoods | CMO, brand strategist, futurist

@thisispaff | Marketing at IYK & co-founder, Take Up Space

@rakshitaphilip | designer, /community co-host, Coven Classics

@poymeetsworld | Community, Warbler Labs, /community co-host

@parkerjayp | VC, Fintech Collective / founding team, Boys Club

Community Strategy Group ft. Monica of Truth Labs, Keone of Metaversal, and many more

But Why Though?

First of all, it’s just fun! Second, I think we can offer a more expressive connection that Twitter Spaces alone just don’t enable…

My days consist mostly of researching, gathering context from things I consume, and dreaming of ways to relate said media to how I help folks build narratives. Whether that’s a YouTube video essay, a podcast, an article, or just staring at the ceiling, these things inform the creative process.

Also, hey, who could say no to an attempt at reversing this cycle Ben points out here?

The /community channel, myself, and our cohosts are bound by an ambitious goal of helping creators get their work out there, to noodle on their creations by giving them incentives to create. We should work to partner with other social channels like Ben’s /words and others who wish to help!

The State of People is a curious commentary on the loneliness epidemic, attention economy, status games, digital, media, and crypto literacy, and how we create more sustainable, value-aligned identities for ourselves as AI accelerates our futures. Of course, I invite all Cloud Scouts members to join in and learn!

It’s also necessary we have open conversations on the latest mechanisms for building relationships onchain. Many of us are adept marketers, so discussing narrative and worldbuilding is part of our everyday lives. Sharing trends and best practices with viewers will be a top priority for The State of People shows.

At the end of the day, it’s about fostering creative, curious moments to share out loud, openly, in public, onchain.

Hunting and Gathering 🔗 

Watch This

•  If Web3 is to Work, a talk by Jon Wu (March, 2023)

Read This

• If you read one essay this weekend, make it Moral Ecosystems: My Big Idea by Toby Shorin. It’s been a while since I’ve read something that connected just the right dots on a few ideas I’d been stewing on.

• This piece by Aaron Timms in The New Republic, The Age of Cultural Stagnation, pulls things to the surface on unoriginality and algorithmic cultures (plus it has an audio version)