Web3 has become the most sought-after investment area of 2022, as use cases for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), metaverses, and other blockchain applications emerge. Therefore, it is not surprising that various sectors of the publishing industry have begun to use Web3 technologies to replace traditional models.
For example, textbook publishing giant Pearson recently announced plans to use NFTs to track digital textbook sales to capture lost revenue in the secondary market. Time magazine, which was founded 99 years ago, is using NFTs to create new revenue streams along with a sense of community within the publishing industry. Time president Keith Grossman told Cointelegraph that the magazine is showcasing the new possibilities of engagement that Web3 brings to the publishing industry. he said:
“Web3 can grow its brand in a world where individuals are moving from online renters to online owners, and privacy is moving from platform to person.”
Web3 enables a community of content owners
While it may seem unconventional for one of the industry’s oldest and best-known magazine publishers to host an NFT gallery, Grossman reports that Time has dropped about 30,000 NFTs to date. He said these have been collected by more than 15,000 wallet addresses, 7,000 of which are linked to Time.com to remove the paywall without providing personal information. “While along the way, the timepiece community has grown to over 50,000 individuals,” Grossman pointed out.
To put this into perspective, Grossman pointed out that in September 2021, TIME launched a Web3 community initiative known as TIMEPieces. The project is a digital gallery space hosted on the NFT marketplace OpenC, which has brought together 89 artists, photographers and even musicians. “The number of timepiece artists has increased from 38 to 89. This includes Drift, Cath Simard, Diana Sinclair, Micah Johnson, Justin Aversano, FVKrender, Victor Mosquera and Beige, to name a few,” Grossman said.
While notable, the more important aspect of this growth lies within the distinction of “audience” versus “communities”. According to Grossman, very few people in the publishing sector distinguish between these two groups, yet he added that Web3 “provides tremendous opportunities for those wishing to explore this oversight.” For example, Grossman explained that an audience engages with the material only for a moment. However, he pointed out that a community aligns around shared values and is provided an opportunity for continued engagement. he said:
“Healthy ‘communities’ have moats that make them difficult to disrupt or disrupt. However, they take a lot of work to develop and nurture. The long-term benefit of a community is sustainability – and publications are anything but stable. “
In fact, NFTs could be the key to providing the publishing world with the stability and audience interaction needed to advance. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, brands are using NFTs in a variety of ways to better engage with customers over time.
For this reason other sectors of the publishing industry are starting to employ NFTs. For example, Royal Joh. Enschedé, a 300-year-old Dutch printing company, is entering the Web3 space by offering its customers an NFT platform for “crypto stamps”. Gelmar Lembrandt, CEO of Royal Joh. Enshede told Cointelegraph that the world of stamps and stamps is very traditional, noting that non-fungible tokens will allow for expansion. he said:
“Crypto Stamp opens up a global market that will appeal not only to classic stamp collectors, but also to collectors in their teens, twenties and thirties who buy, save and trade NFTs. This is natural for our core customers. Very attractive form – more than 60 national postal organizations around the world.
According to LeBrant, Royal Joh. Enschedé started thinking about ways to use blockchain technology two years ago, yet the Dutch printing firm decided to start with crypto stamps because of utility and market fit. LeBrant explained that not only will stamp collectors own a unique NFT, but the non-fungible tokens will also act as “digital twins” that aim to provide an additional layer of security and authentication to their physical products.
LeBrant also pointed out that connecting physical goods to their digital counterparts gives customers additional conveniences. Although he added that the crypto ticket is just the beginning of Royal Joh. In Enschedé’s Web3 visit, he explained that the company has begun to develop “remarkables” that rival secure printed banknotes. he explained:
“Through the use of specialized printing techniques, we can add, among other things, augmented reality, which in turn provides access to exclusive online promotion and communication platforms. Notable are the use of the NFT element as a collector’s item. can be done, along with a means of payment in the metaverse.”
Like time, crypto tickets and the remarkable Royal Joh are enabling. Enschedé to build a community of collectors able to platform and connect with each other. “All kinds of new applications can be linked to these, such as access to real-life events such as Formula 1 or Tomorrowland, where only a few notes qualify for VIP packages. We are building our business for the next 100 years. Huh.” LeBrant added.
In addition, independent news organizations are beginning to apply Web3 technologies to solve one of the biggest challenges facing the media industry today – “fake news”. For example, Bywire.news is a decentralized news platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and blockchain to identify false or misleading news content. BayWire CEO Michael O’Sullivan told Cointelegraph that the platform has built and deployed a “trust or not” algorithm. “This can provide readers with ‘at a glance’ assurance that the content provided on the Bywire.news platform is trustworthy, and that the people who produce it are actually accountable,” he said.
O’Sullivan explained that BioWire’s AI technology is able to “read” an article a few seconds before it goes live to determine the credibility of the content. Once it is established, the algorithm generates a recommendation along with the rationale behind its determination. “Why important is because it helps consumers become aware of the motives and intentions of content producers,” commented O’Sullivan.
While innovative, O’Sullivan pointed out that any independent news organization could aggregate their news content into Baywire, delivering it to tens of thousands of readers per month. Like other publishers using Web3 technology, O’Sullivan noted that Bywire has a community of readers attached to the platform, noting that these individuals are encouraged to read the content. “Each reader gets a free EOS account and can immediately start earning token rewards, which can then be used for democratic oversight of the network.”
Will Web3 outpace the publishing industry?
Although Web3 has the potential to transform the publishing industry by allowing different sectors to reach and interact with new audiences, the impact remains questionable. For example, it has been observed that there is still a lack of clarity among publishers about how blockchain can and should be used.
Lars Seer Christensen, president of Concordium, the Swiss blockchain company that powers Royal Joh. Enschedé’s NFT platform – told Cointelegraph – that non-fungible tokens currently make sense for most organizations. However, he believes that NFTs and other Web3 technologies will soon become the norm:
“Let’s take a step back from the acronym NFT because it can be confusing. What has been proven is that a blockchain can store immutable data – that is, records are final and unbreakable, and that The data chain is completely transparent to all with simple access to the search engine.”
Regarding consumers, Grossman also mentioned that individuals should not use the term NFTs, adding that they do not need to know with certainty which blockchain platform is powering these applications. “They should engage with brands based on the experiences they are providing,” he said. Grossman further commented that the rise of the computer led to frequent discussions about technology, until Steve Jobs reported that the iPod could hold “1,000 songs in your pocket”. Grossman believes a similar moment will happen for Web3, but it is yet to come:
“Most people’s perceptions about NFTs and blockchain are defined by extremes – extreme good and extreme bad. The reality is that NFTs are just a token that confirms ownership on the blockchain and provides value to companies and individuals. To provide education in many ways requires education.”
