The Incentive Paradox
Social media was invented to connect people over large distances. The end result is undeniably more divided and anger than ever before. Economics call this a perverse incentive or the cobra effect. When a system designed to solve a problem only worsens the situation.
Internet entrepreneurs claim that they have been marching towards a brighter, greater future for the last 20 years, but most attempts - social media or the gig economy to name a few - have achieved the exact opposite, while extracting billions of dollars of value from digital users. Startups and corporations pursuing higher shareholder value had misaligned interests from their users. This Incentive Paradox is the key to creating the Metaverse.
A new economic contract is required between digital users that allows service providers to thrive while empowering consumers with true digital ownership and governance.