Platforms Need to Work with Their Users – Not Against Them

To stay relevant, the winners of Web2 need to start using the tools of Web3.

by

Ethan Bueno de Mesquita

and

Andrew Hall

by

Ethan Bueno de Mesquita

and

Andrew Hall

May 04, 2022

SvetaZi/Getty Images

Summary.

As online platforms have become dominant, many have leveraged their power by raising fees and changing rules. In the short run, this hurts the producers they work with — software developers, small retailers, game designers, content creators. In the long run, though, it also hurts the platforms themselves, because producers won’t continue to invest in platforms that don’t reflect their interests. But there is a way to solve this problem: Using the blockchain to grant governance tokens to producers. Such tokens would guarantee them the right to vote on key decisions and would give them the ownership and assurances they need to unleash their innovation — to the benefit of everybody involved.

As we write, thousands of online communities created for a wide variety of purposes — everything from providing crypto financial services to crowdsourcing art collecting — are building new democracies rapidly evolving systems for discussion, debate, voting, and representation. This movement, often known as Web3, has created an explosion of interest in giving ownership and decision-making power to community participants rather than to a small number of business executives.

EM

Ethan Bueno de Mesquita is the Sydney Stein Professor and deputy dean at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He is the author or co-author of three books — Thinking Clearly with Data, Theory and Credibility, and Political Economy for Public Policy — and numerous articles in both political science and economics. He advises tech leaders on issues at the intersection of technology, governance, and society. Follow him on twitter @ethanbdm.
AH

Andrew B. Hall is a professor of political science at Stanford University and, by courtesy, a professor of political economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is the co-director of the Democracy & Polarization Lab and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. He serves as an advisor to tech companies, investors, and blockchain protocols on issues at the intersection of technology, governance, and society.

Platforms Need to Work with Their Users – Not Against Them

Partner Center

Explore HBR

HBR Store

About HBR

Manage My Account

Follow HBR