2022: NFTs Crash, A Golden Age on the Horizon and dealing with “Absolute Insecurity”

Happy new year everyone!?Hope you had a chance to decompress a bit over the last two weeks – even with Omicron, weather woes and so much more going on.?2022 is here, and I KNOW it’s going to be better than the last two years.

Here’s what’s new and what caught my eye over the last two weeks:

Most Accurate Predictions EVER Back With 2022 Version:?Mark Anderson is a bit of an oracle.?Over the last 20 years he’s put out his top 10 predictions – with a 97% accuracy rate.?Although not creator economy specific, these 10 will shape the landscape of creators and creativity next year – “Absolute Insecurity” and “Consumer Spending Explosion” are particularly relevant.?Read them with your coffee this morning – and know that they will all likely come true.

Simple Prediction with Complex Ramifications:?The guy who tried to buy the Constitution actually writes a smart and insightful newsletter.?Packy McCormick has one simple and obvious prediction – but then explores what it all means when it comes to Web3, Crypto and much more.

Make Community Building Your Focus in 2022:?That’s the message from Peter Yang, who regular readers know as the “Curious Beginner’s Guide to Crypto” author.???He shares five key secrets to help you build sustainable and profitable communities this year.??But for a cautionary note, don’t miss Brian Morrisey’s hot read that most communities are just audiences with lipstick.?It’s one of his 2021 “Rebooting Awards” – and all of them are worth reading.

There’s a Golden Age Comin’ Round:?That’s Li Jin’s take, as she explains how Web2 broke the media business, but Web3 will create a comparative paradise for creators and artists.??The key fix between “2” and “3”??Making payments part of the fabric of the ‘net.?Jin also fingers advertising as the villain to be vanquished.?Jin highlights four key areas – scarcity, aligning incentives, platform ownership and collab-based econ models - that will usher in the golden age.??

Web3 Backlash is Coming Though:?The Web3 hype spilled over into name calling over the last few weeks, as Jack Dorsey claimed it’s a sham perpetuated by VCs and LPs.?Kickstarter and Discord also kicked up a storm of user backlash as they tried to move into Web3 too.?And NFTs now sit at the top of Gartner’s Hype Cycle – along with being skewered by South Park.??Sure, part of it is Crypto vs. Bitcoin infighting, but some of the criticism is legit.?But I’ll make my very own prediction here – Web3 will face a backlash in 2022, as the knives come out among non-believers and the ignorant.?But just like with web1 (remember Pets.com?), we’ll see true prosperity and growth in 2024 and beyond.?HODL hard, because winter is coming.

QUIBIS:

• They’re all sea shanties in the end: A Year of “Trends”.
• Why promo codes really aren’t going anywhere.
• Advances in AI help GPT-3 accurately answer simple questions more than half the time (Geek Alert).
• Bifurcation is officially a “trend”: The Great Bifurcation (Stratechery), and The Bifurcation of Traditional Media (The Rebooting).
• Li Jin pumps her investment in “Curated”, conveniently ignoring that they only paid 12% of revenue to their creators in November.
• TikTok moderator sues, claiming PTSD.

Tip of the Week: This tip comes from VidIQ Head of Marketing Mark Robertson, paraphrased from his algorithm talk at VidCon Abu Dhabi last month (the full video will be posted soon):

?Remember your YouTube audience is greater than your number of subscribers.?To appeal to your broader audience, analyze your videos for both retention and impression, with an eye towards discovering what your top videos have in common.?To increase your audiences, try changing your call to action, or ask viewers to like your videos.?Consider creating a series of videos that point viewers to learn more about the same subjects in your top videos.?Another strategy involves making a sequel to one or more of your most successful videos.

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?What I'm Watching:?

• South Park skewers NFTs.?So good I had to push it twice.?Oh, I also liked The Flight Before Christmas too.
• If you don’t know JianHao Chan, you should.?He’s sort of the Singapore version of The Fine Brothers.?Check out my interview with him at VidCon Singapore late last year.
• Hank Green continues to confuse and captivate viewers on TikTok.?

See you around the internet, and feel free to share this with anyone you think might be interested, and if someone forwarded this to you, please sign up here!

Jim