For The Love Of God, Can We Write Better Web3 Stories?
Crypto doesn't have to be that complicated, really.
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Before we start: This post has first been published in Web3 With TPan as a guest post. TPan is writing about Web3, growth and NFTs, and I can’t recommend you enough to go check out his stuff. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
During my last year at university, one of my professors asked me to read "The Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman.
This book, written by a cognitive scientist, is a treasure trove of design principles.
But out of the 300 pages, one lesson particularly stuck with me:
Sometimes, things are just poorly designed, and it's not your fault if you struggle to use them.
Take something as simple as doors, for example.
I, like thousands of others, fucking struggle with them.
I push doors that are meant to be pulled, pull doors that should be pushed, and walk into doors that neither pull nor push but slide.
And it's not our fault; it's simply bad design.
Now, here's the thing.
When we fail to open a door, the result is often simply frustration.
In the end, we open it anyway, even if we have to go through it twice.
But with new technology or complex devices, we give up. Plain and simple.
And crypto products aren't like doors; they are more like ultra-secure safes with ten buttons and a biometric opening system - hard to use.
If people don't understand crypto, we can't just point fingers at them and call them clueless.
It was our responsibility to explain to them how to leverage this technology, and we didn’t.
But the good news is:
The problem of crypto, just like doors, is not that complicated to solve.
We simply need to explain better how to use this technology and make it straightforward to use.
See, it’s not like we had to rebuild everything from scratch.
The infrastructure is good enough for people to be excited about crypto.
Our imaginations and the stories we tell, however, might still need some work to onboard more people.
Let’s cut the bullshit
There’s a lot of bad Web3 content online.
A metric shit-ton of bad content actually.
Web3 has an obsession with over-complication, and the industry is famous for utilizing jargon and poor marketing.
Let’s take crypto terminology as an example.
Are we trying to make people join the crypto revolution or join a secret society with a cryptic language? "HODL," "FUD," "DYOR," "REKT" - it's like deciphering ancient code to become part of a digital cult.
No wonder some people would rather stick to their piggy banks and traditional savings accounts.
(Silver lining: in case you were wondering, "HODL" simply means hold, "FUD" stands for "Fear Uncertainty & Doubt," "DYOR" is short for "Do Your Own Research," and "REKT" is the hip way of saying "wrecked.")
In most articles I read, everyone shouts catchphrases, and sure, it sounds impressive.
But most of the time, I end up wondering: what the heck does it actually mean?
I mean, I appreciate the effort to sound smart and impress us with your genius, and I get that there are some topics that require some technical details, but could you maybe throw in a few stories and metaphor figures to make it more accessible?
Maybe an emoji or two to lighten the mood?
To many writers in Web3, complexity equals sophistication.
But a good writer is not someone who uses complicated words.
It's someone who's able to get their idea across with ease.
It's someone who can convey a hard idea using simple language.
It’s someone who cuts the bullshit and can rally anyone under their cause.
Just a couple of months ago, I actually worked with a client of mine to write some blog posts based on a book he had put together.
I took some of the stuff he wrote, kept the core ideas, and wrapped them up into highly engaging narratives.
It's not like it took me a while. It wasn't rocket science or anything.
I just simplified the heck out of his writing, making it accessible to anyone.
And guess what?
After sending him the blog posts as discussed, he was so satisfied he asked me if I could actually rewrite his ebook directly!
Many think that using impressive words will make them stand out.
Then they read something so easy a 5-year-old would understand, and realize this is much more captivating.
This experience, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you, made something click in me.
If you’re in Web3, get used to telling stories.
Let me share with you a harsh truth I’ve been scared to reveal for a while.
For a couple of months, as a Web3 writer and with the bear market rolling back in (for everyone, but especially web3), I found myself struggling to hold my readers’ interest.
I’ve been struggling, big time.
And it took me 12 weeks and a deep talk with TPan to realize a cruel reality — I was writing too technical articles.
I realized I needed to be more personal, share more about myself and my experiences, and switch to the kind of writing that touches hearts and souls.
My audience’s attention was too valuable to waste on inaccessible content.
So in the last couple weeks, I changed my strategy on Substack. Instead of posting long form essays on complicated topics like I used to, I’ve been publishing 1 short story per week about topics like:
Why the skill of timing is as important as execution when being a founder
Why you should probably keep doing cool shit online despite the bear market
I started sharing more about my personal experiences, still conveying Web3 lessons while bringing emotions back into my writing.
And guess what? My content started to gain traction again.
Views poured in like never before, my open rate skyrocketed, and just this week, I found myself featured on the front page of HackerNoon.
And it’s not as if my ideas were suddenly much more interesting.
Or as if people suddenly started to be interested in Web3 again.
It’s just that, finally, I started reframing my ideas to tell captivating stories.
Good writing speaks to people's hearts and minds, not just their wallets.
They arouse emotions and allow readers to live a true and memorable reading experience.
Every human who has ever lived can relate to stories of love, fear, anger, success, and failure because these tales embody the human experience.
And writing Web3 stories (even technical ones) that make your readers scared, inspired, or hopeful, mixed with some personal elements, is the secret sauce to make your readers remember you.
Stories are the multiplier
We often talk about all the tech we need to onboard the next million users.
And we surely have a long way to go.
But it all starts with good writing.
We think that crypto adoption is a game of features and tech.
But stories are the coefficient by which all of the numbers can be multiplied.
Onboarding the next million users to crypto is easier than we think, and relies first on our ability to tell great stories. We can rewrite the crypto narrative, stripping away the unnecessary jargon and replacing it with words that resonate with people.
Because it's not that people aren’t interested in crypto—it's that they're drowning in a sea of bad content.
And it’s our duty as Web3 advocates to throw them a lifeline, and empower them to ride the waves of crypto with confidence and clarity.
The question now is:
Are we all going to make it?
Speak soon,
- Eliot
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I think you’ve hit some valid points here. I’ve also noticed that just avoiding the typical buzz words of web3 while discussing the ideas and advantages of the tech, people respond much better.