Creating self-sovereignty in the creator economy and Web3 — Is there room for both?

NFT Steez sits down with Web3 advocate Julie Plavnik to discuss the concepts of self-sovereignty and digital identity in Web3-based creator economies.

On this week’s episode of NFT Steez, hosts Alyssa Exposito and Ray Salmond meet with Web3 content writer Julie Plavnik to discuss the importance of self-sovereignty while building a digital identity in Web3. 

Plavnik referenced author Gavin Wood when describing Web3 and said that “communication” is a core tenant in the subsequent iteration of the internet. “Web3 is the communication of encrypted channels between decentralized identities,” Plavnik affirmed.

According to Plavnik, the emerging concept of Web3 has placed a magnifying glass over user data and ownership, especially concerning the creator economy, which Plavnik described as a place with “no entry barriers or casting.”

During the show, Plavnik explored how users are coming around to the notion that they can potentially monetize their individuality in Web3, but she questioned how they could maintain their self-sovereignty.

Awakening self-sovereign identity in Web3

When discussing how self-sovereignty is intertwined with Web3, there was no hesitation from Plavnik in explaining that the core tenet of Web3 is to uphold a self-sovereign identity — meaning that decentralization is vital.

Decentralization, Plavnik explained, is fundamental to ensuring that no third party controls nor owns user data.

However, not all users have the level of awareness or interest to understand this. Understandably so, as Plavnik described the fact that Web3 features, protocols and platforms are still in their “infancy.”

Despite being in an experimental and developmental stage, Web3 has also shed light on how the creator economy can continue to evolve and minimize intermediaries. Through the use of blockchain technology and decentralized platforms, users are beginning to build their brands without intermediaries and networks that profit from users’ data.

Related: NFT Steez and Lukso co-founder explore the implications of digital self-sovereignty in Web3

Plavnik explained how as a creator, maintaining self-sovereignty in Web3 is “exciting” because it already serves as a way to build a “blockchain resume,” so to speak, whereby users can readily track and find all their interactions, participation and engagement in a domain, for example.

Plavnik expects that in the future, nonfungible token domains will be an attractive feature even though current users are limited to only facets of their digital identity based on their crypto wallet.

Plavnik posited that an NFT domain could give users more dynamic freedom regarding which information they want to disclose and which digital identities will serve which purposes.

To hear more from the conversation, tune in and listen to the full episode of NFT Steez on Cointelegraph’s new podcasts page or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or TuneIn.