NFTs weren’t supposed to end like this…
Artwork by Yuga Labs, Bored Ape Yacht Club, 2021In our last journal, we talked about the need for ethics in web3.
It’s easy to forget real-world laws of ethics when the decentralised internet offers no tangible consequences for breaking them.
‘NFTs weren’t supposed to end like this,’ writes Anil Dash, one of the co-creators of the NFT itself, ‘we were trying to protect artists, but tech-world opportunism has struck again.’
Throughout history, artists have been disregarded or overlooked by investors and corporations profiting off their work, with little credit and recognition given to their practice. Web3 proposes a solution to this age-old problem, with decentralisation and user autonomy giving a proper platform to artists on a global stage.
NFTs give artists the opportunity to gain autonomy over their artworks and own them in a way that was never possible before.
Artists can control who has access to them, where they are viewed and used, and establish sources of payment that they feel represent the value of their works.
Ultimately, web3 should offer realistic and sustainable solutions to issues within the traditional art world, allowing artists greater control over their works, more opportunity for exposure and access to diverse audiences.
The shortfall of this current circumstance, however, is that the web3 community has largely been built by tech experts and finance entrepreneurs.
This means that there is a huge gap in understanding how to curate art and represent artists fairly. It also takes the perception of digital art further and further away from its traditionally esteemed cultural value. In addition, the volatility of the space alongside the new and often inaccessible forms of technology creates ideal circumstances for unethical behaviour.
For web3 and NFTs to become a viable solution that is pro-artist and anti-antiquated art world issues, value must be physically instilled into artists and artworks.
The worship of material ownership must be overcome, and an individual’s lack of fin-tech knowledge should be seen as a chance to support and educate, rather than as an opportunity to take advantage of.
It is important to note that every ethical debate in some way or another stems from the human experience. Beyond the legal framework of the real world, humans are constantly making moral decisions in the face of ethical problems.
When it’s all digital however, it can be easy to forget that at the other side of the screen is a human as well.
Community responsibility is the way forward.
Taking it back to fundamentals: web3 promises a new version of society. A society is not merely based on individual needs, but collective needs. These collective needs lead humans to form communities connected by shared interests and values, who then build a society.
Each layer of human connection is bound by an unwritten social contract to be responsible for one’s own actions.
Being part of a new community means recognising this foundational code of conduct, and taking responsibility for our ethical impact. Holding ourselves, and each other, accountable , is integral to building strong communities on web3. The way forward is together.