This piece was originally published at Blockworks.
Read the full article →By Ethan Lyle & Robert Ledniczky
Picture the scene: You go to a friend's party and find yourself in the middle of a conversation among some people in finance. They're talking EBITDA, asset amortization, and tax harvesting capital gains. Or doctors, talking lectin pathways and actin filaments. Or engineers, talking superheterodynes and adiabatic expansion.
How do you enter their world when they haven't opened the door?
You can't.
You nod along, excuse yourself to get a drink, and think about how quickly you can leave.
Language is a key tool we use to form connections. It builds community and fosters a sense of belonging. But language can also be exclusionary. It can make people feel left out.
And for topics like Web3, crypto, and blockchain, language is sabotaging success.
Where language goes wrong
For the Web3 party, what started as a small gathering is now spilling into the hallways. But the road to mass adoption is lined with challenges.
Today, many among the "mainstream" public look at Web3 and do not like what they see. According to a recent CNBC survey, 43% of Americans have a negative view of cryptocurrencies. A lowly 8% have a positive view.
Web3's prevailing language to-date does little to overcome these doubts.
The industry is awash with technical jargon that hides Web3's remarkable innovations and transformative powers. On the rare occasion Web3 is put into plain language, the story tends to be negative. "Fraud" is a word everyone knows. At our proverbial party, SBF drank too much of the punch. Rumor has it that Mr. Gensler next door is calling the police. The consequences of language are real.
Web3 what?
Simply put, Web3 has a language crisis. Even the name itself creates barriers. Understanding "Web3" requires audiences to first know what we mean by Web1 and Web2. Audiences aren't the problem though, we are. As Web3 believers, advocates, and communicators, we are failing to break through.
| What You Say | What They Hear | What You Mean |
|---|---|---|
| Web3 | Some new, hard-to-reach place of the internet | The internet of value, where people are the owners and beneficiaries |
| Crypto | A complete scam causing people to lose millions | Digital currencies that can be built and programmed to do more |
| NFT | JPEG bubble that's dramatically overvalued | An untouchable record of authenticity and rightful ownership |
| Blockchain | Computer program | A public record anyone can access and no one can change |
How we got here makes sense. These technologies are new. The language was shaped by developers and evangelists. The audience was like-minded individuals, and the language was their own.
But the Web3 world now must talk convincingly to new people. That means explaining, in the simplest terms, what the technology can do, and most critically, why people should care about it.
Okay, so what next?
Simpler, more inviting language is an urgent first step, but it's not enough on its own. To be impactful, the words of Web3 must be genuine too. Less about our awesome tech, more about the user. Let's show people we really care about solving their problems. Capturing curiosity is the key to welcoming the mainstream.
Web3 is moving incredibly quickly. We're still learning what all these technologies can even do, let alone how to talk about them. As professional communicators who believe in the awesome powers of Web3, we can strive to be humble, be curious, be gracious. Web3 is a space for everyone.
The Web3 party is here to stay. It's time we find better words that open the door and let everyone in.
This piece was originally published in Blockworks. Co-authored with Robert Ledniczky of maslansky + partners.