MeWe's Big Gamble on Web3

Let me start off by saying that I have been a big advocate of the social network MeWe for quite some time. After big tech began to become too authoritarian, started rapidly censoring opinions on a political basis and simply devolved into places of nastiness and narcissism, an alternative option was necessary. Today, I only use Facebook for occasional messaging and work. I rarely ever touch Instagram (I prefer Photocrowd) and next to never look at X, formerly known as Twitter.

MeWe now boasts of a user base of around 20 million, which while small compared to the tech giants, is nothing to sneeze at. And much of that base has joined since 2020 when political issues reached a boiling point in the United States and conservatives and libertarians where either forced out of big tech social networks or sought better options where all viewpoints were respected. In fact, some might say that this exodus by big network users helped build MeWe and make it what it is.

But recently, MeWe has announced and is in the process of converting their platform into one that uses Web3, what some are calling "The Social Web." This has come with some controversy.

First off, the network did a rather poor job of informing users of the change. I'm logged in to MeWe every day and only found out about it myself earlier this week. And at that, it was by accident, when I came across a discussion in a group that I only visit very infrequently. Second, the company hasn't done well in explaining this incredibly technical transition to users. The network did hold an AMA (Ask Me Anything) event on the topic with Mark Liu, Head of Product at MeWe earlier this week. This event did answer some questions and concerns of users but also in some cases raised more.

While some of the concerns users have are technical in nature, many of them relate more to issues of privacy and viewpoints that may be shared on the platform, the same concerns that plague Facebook and the rest of big tech. Web3 is also run through blockchain technology, the same stuff that is the foundation of cryptocurrency, which has a mixed reputation itself.

MeWe Founder and social media reform and privacy advocate Mark Weinstein left the company. The current CEO is Jeffery Scott Edell, the former chairman of the once-popular website MySpace. The network has joined forces with Project Liberty which has come with some level of controversy.

A quick look into Edell himself shows that he is a member of Rolling Stone's Culture Council which clearly has a left-wing bend while having been a big supporter of Republican tech executive Meg Whittman's run for governor of California in 2010. This makes it kind of hard to determine which way, if any, bias would enter the platform from the top down.

It seems as though initially there is some exodus by long-time users. However, the reason for and extent of this is not completely clear. And, to some extent, it seems obvious this would take place as that most people struggle with change.

Ultimately, this is a big gamble for MeWe. Things could go one of three ways. Scenario 1 - after initial losses, this will be a big boost for the network and its users increasing the number of accounts and its relevancy in the social media world. Scenario 2 - this will cause a mass exodus from the site and make it irrelevant and unsustainable. Scenario 3 - it won't really change anything. While I hope either scenario 1 or 3 come to be, only time will tell.