Irene Zhao's self-statement: The success behind the rise is the Web3 creator economy

Source: Irene Zhao Twitter

Compiled by: Linqi, Chain Catcher

Here’s why the popularity of @0xIreneDao is not a fluke, or a mere Asian fetish in the eyes of some. They missed the real opportunity. There is a larger content hidden behind the concept of IreneDao.

Since my college days, I have been an Instagram influencer. I am fortunate to have many followers who enjoy my photos. After six years, I now have 300,000 followers, ranking among the top ten influencers in Singapore. You might think having such a large fan base is pretty good. But you are mistaken.

To profit from the posts I publish, I need to embed products and paid advertisements. So I have become this way, having to post paid content every other day. Why? Because I have no choice. This is how I make a living.

Of course, my followers do not like these paid advertisements. But they have no choice either. This is how the web2 creator economy operates. Now think about your favorite content creators. Don’t you have to endure this system as well?

Many of us will try to become KOLs. You might have the best content in the world, but you won’t be rewarded for your work until your status becomes significant. You may not even know how to become what I’m talking about under centralized control.

Do you see the economic issues of Web2 now?

Web2 was not built to facilitate the flow of funds, but to facilitate the flow of information. Therefore, the profit mechanism of Web2 is to attract attention by publishing free content and charging for advertisements.

The traffic and attention on Web2 are ultimately owned and enjoyed by this centralized platform, not the creators. Creators are not rewarded for the quality of their work but for the traffic they attract to the platform and the breadth of attention they "occupy" from the audience.

So how does Web3 solve these problems?

1. Creator NFT tokens transform the attention or traffic attracted by creators into "ownership." Creators can truly own their content.
2. Followers can purchase a portion of that ownership. They can own an IG post, a song, or a moment in a gamer’s stream.
3. They not only own it, but they can also invest in it. Imagine you have been a fan of Jeremy Lin's games since high school and own a video of him dunking from 15 years ago. How much would it be worth during Jeremy Lin's peak?

On Web2, no matter how long you spend watching a YouTube video, you essentially have no relationship with it. However, on Web3, if you start following early enough and choose the right content creators, you can invest in their growth process and reap the rewards.

NFTs are the medium that makes the new Web3 creator economy possible. It eliminates rent-seeking intermediaries and directly makes users owners. It can also create a market-sensitive pricing mechanism.

Since the fourth quarter of last year, my team at @socol_io has been researching the technology to achieve this goal. We have some core capital supporting our venture, which will be announced later.

Some believe that the explosive popularity of @0xIreneDao is merely a coincidence. But that is not the case. It is a concept that has been nurtured through six years of hard work in the Web2 economy and months of planning and effort.

I hope that when @socol_io launches, I will finally be able to stop proving that I am Irene on Instagram, Irene on YouTube, or proving that I am not a man.