Because nonfungible tokens (NFTs), the Metaverse, and other blockchain technologies have made Web3 the most sought-after investment area of 2022, it is not surprising that several sectors of the publishing industry have begun to implement Web3 technology for modernizing outdated business models.

For instance, to recover revenue lost on the secondary market, the world’s largest publisher of textbooks, Pearson, recently revealed plans to deploy NFTs for tracking digital textbook sales. The publishing industry’s sense of community and new revenue streams have been fostered by Time magazine, which was created almost a century ago. Time’s president, Keith Grossman, stated in an interview that the publication is an example of the new engagement opportunities that Web 3 has brought to the publishing sector. He stated:

“In a world where people have started to transition from being online renters to being online owners, and privacy is beginning to transfer from platforms to the individual, this can evolve one’s brand.”

Facilitating a network of content producers

While hosting an NFT gallery at one of the business’s most venerable and venerable magazine publishers may seem unconventional, Time has dropped close to 30,000 NFTs to date, according to Grossman. According to him, they were gathered by over 15,000 wallet addresses, 7,000 of which are linked to Time.com, so users can bypass the paywall without divulging their personal data. He noted that the TIMEPiece community has expanded to over 50,000 people along the road.

Grossman said that Time established TIMEPieces, a Web3 community initiative, last September to put this in perspective. In this project, 89 painters, photographers, and even musicians have come together in a digital exhibition space offered on the NFT marketplace OpenSea. “TIMEPiece artists have increased from 38 to 89,” he stated. “To name a few, they include Drift, Cath Simard, Diana Sinclair, Micah Johnson, Justin Aversano, Fvckrender, Victor Mosquera, and Baeige.”

Although significant, the distinction between “audiences” and “communities” matters most regarding this expansion. Grossman claimed that while there aren’t many people in the publishing industry who can tell these two groups apart, Web3 offers “a fantastic potential for anybody eager to examine this omission.” For instance, according to Grossman, an audience only pays attention to content for a brief period. But he pointed out that a community comes together around shared ideals and has access to ongoing interaction. He stated:

Stability is a community’s long-term value, and publishing is anything from stable. Healthy ‘communities’ have moats that make them more challenging to destabilize or bypass. They require a lot of effort to grow and maintain, though.

The stability and audience involvement the publishing industry needs to advance may be made possible by NFTs. NFTs are used by brands in a variety of ways to improve client engagement over Time. This is why NFTs are now being used in other areas of the publishing industry. For instance, the 300-year-old Dutch printing house Royal Joh Enschede is joining the Web3 market by offering its customers an NFT platform for “crypto stamps.” The postage stamp and philately industries are highly traditional, according to Royal Joh Enschede CEO Gelmer Leibbrandt, who noted that nonfungible tokens would enable expansion. He stated:

“The crypto stamp opens up a global market attractive to collectors in their teens, twenties, and thirtys who buy, save, and trade NFTs and traditional stamp collectors. This is quite tempting for our primary clients, the more than 60 national postal organizations around the world.

Leibbrandt claims that Royal Joh Enschede began considering applications for blockchain technology more than two years ago. Still, the Dutch printing company began with crypto stamps due to their usefulness and marketability. He clarified that in addition to purchasing a one-of-a-kind NFT, stamp collectors would also be able to use them as “digital twins,” which are designed to add an extra layer of protection and authenticity to the company’s physical products.

Leibbrandt also pointed out that tying together real-world items with their digital counterparts gives users access to more capabilities. While he acknowledged that Royal Joh Enschede’s Web3 journey is just getting started, he added that the business has begun creating “notables,” which are intended to compete with safe, printed banknotes. He clarified:

We can add augmented reality, among other things, by using specific printing techniques. This gives users access to exclusive online deals and a communication platform. Notables are distinctive, and the NFT element can be utilized as a collectible and a medium of exchange in the Metaverse.

Like Time, Royal Joh Enschede can create a community of collectors who can interact with the platform and one another thanks to crypto stamps and notables. “These can be connected to all new applications, such as entry to real-world events like Formula 1 or Tomorrowland, where only a few notes entitle holders to VIP packages. For the upcoming 100 years, we are establishing our company, said Leibbrandt.

Additionally, independent news organizations have begun to use Web3 technologies to address “fake news,” one of the most significant problems the media sector is currently facing. For instance, Bywire, a decentralized news platform, uses blockchain, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect news material that is incorrect or deceptive. Bywire’s CEO, Michael O’Sullivan, said that a “trust or not” algorithm had been developed and implemented on the platform. This can give users an “at-a-glance” assurance that the information provided on the Bywire platform is reliable and that individuals who create it are accountable, the author claimed.

O’Sullivan added that Bywire’s AI technology could quickly assess the credibility of a piece of material by “reading” it before it is published. As soon as this is established, the algorithm generates a recommendation and its justification. He said, “The why is important because it makes customers aware of the goals and intents of content creators.

O’Sullivan noted that while the idea was novel, any independent news organization could aggregate its news content to Bywire, exposing it to tens of thousands of readers each month. O’Sullivan pointed out that Bywire, like other publishers employing Web3 technology, has a community of readers connected to the platform and said that these people are encouraged to read the content. Every reader receives a free EOS account and may instantly begin earning token incentives, which can then be used to support democratic network monitoring.

Will Web3 help the publishing sector advance?

Although Web3 has the potential to revolutionize the publishing sector by enabling different industries to connect and engage with new audiences, the impact is still debatable. For instance, it has been observed that publishers are still unclear about how blockchain may and should be used.

According to Lars Seier Christensen, chairman of Concordium, the Swiss blockchain company powering Royal Joh Enschede’s NFT platform, nonfungible tokens now have no significance for most enterprises. But he thinks that NFTs and other Web3 technologies will quickly take over as the standard:

Since the acronym NFT can be unclear, let’s take a step back. It has been demonstrated that a blockchain may contain immutable data, meaning that the records are final and unalterable and that anyone can easily access this data using the chain search engine.

Also, read – How NFTs are Reinventing the Digital World

According to Grossman, consumers shouldn’t use the term “NFT,” They don’t necessarily need to know what blockchain platform powers these applications. According to the experiences being offered, “they should be engaging with marketers,” he said. Before Steve Jobs revealed that the iPod could contain “1,000 tunes in your pocket,” Grossman continued, the growth of computers prompted a frequent conversation about technology. Grossman predicts that Web3 will experience a comparable moment, which has not yet materialized:

Both extremes describe how most people view NFTs and blockchain technology. The truth is that an NFT is only a token that confirms ownership on a blockchain, and corporations and individuals need to be educated on the variety of ways in which it can add value.