Web3 looks set to transform work as we know it. It’s built upon blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, and is characterised by greater decentralisation, transparency, and shared ownership.
DAO, meaning the decentralised autonomous organisation, is set to be the vehicle that leads the charge. Today, there are many different permutations of DAOs with some being more decentralised than others. DAOs run the gamut from media organisations, to venture funds and grant programs, to social networks, video games, financial and tech platforms, and philanthropic efforts.
The change is probably best summed up as by Chris Dixon who tweeted “Web1 was read-only (directories), Web2 was read-write (social media), and Web3 is read-write-own.”
We must stress how important the “own” part is for artists.
DAOs are effectively owned and governed by people who hold a sufficient number of a DAO’s native token, which functions like a type of cryptocurrency. For example, $FWB is the native token of a popular social DAO called Friends With Benefits, and people can buy, earn, or trade it.
Here’s how DAOs are changing the game for freelance creatives…
More autonomy over the art and how it’s marketed.
Today’s creator economy, populated by vloggers, bloggers, and podcasters, can give us a glimpse into what the Web3 working world might look like, with the typical creator earning income from a variety of projects such as coaching, consulting, and content monetization on various platforms such as YouTube, SubStack, and Patreon. The same goes for TikTok marketing especially among musicians.
The work can feel more fulfilling.
The technology-centric nature of DAOs may result in rudimentary, algorithmic work being automated, freeing contributors up to be the most creative and useful versions of themselves and allowing them to spend more time on high-value activities — the type that stimulate the flow state — and less time on monotonous, shallow tasks.
While 85% of today’s global workforce is disengaged at work, DAOs will give people more freedom to choose projects whose mission and vision truly resonate with them, jobs that align with their strengths, and values-aligned people to work with. This could also help to mitigate the work-life conflicts, excessive workloads, lack of autonomy, and office politics that drive workplace stress.
More remote working.
DAOs not only don’t care where you work, they also don’t care when you work or what you look like while you’re working — in fact, many contributors are recognized only by their NFT profile pics.
More decision making.
Contributors will be able to use their DAO’s native tokens to vote on key decisions. You can get a glimpse into the kinds of decisions DAO members are already voting on at Snapshot, which is essentially a decentralised voting system. Having said this, existing voting mechanisms have been criticised by the likes of Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, the open-source blockchain that acts as a foundational layer for the majority of Web3 applications. So, this type of voting is likely to evolve over time.
