Dispatch CEO and co-founder Byron Sorrells swung byNFT NYC last month to join the panel “NFTs and the Future of Social Platforms.” Moderated by Web3 Daily’s Chevy Cassar, fellow panelists J.D. Lasica of Amberfi and Ruby Justice Thelot of Friends with Benefits, discussed broad concepts like on-chain messaging, NFT utility, community engagement, Web3 AdTech and CRM, the issues Dispatch aims to solve, and panelists’ visions for the future of on-chain messaging and position within the industry.
The panel kicked off chatting about NFT utility—because what even is “utility” these days, besides an overused Web3 buzzword?
Though NFTs are still derided as fancy JPEGs, their real-world use cases continue to grow. As interest in digital collectibles surged last year, much of the focus was on profile picture (PFP) NFTs, or NFTs that can be used as avatars on social media. Many brands and creators are attaching real world rewards, benefits, and exclusive access to these collectibles, giving the digital asset broader value.
While utility brings value to the community creators and brands are building on-chain, the panel agreed that “being on the blockchain” shouldn’t build a barrier for new users. As a distributed commerce tool for marketers and brands, Dispatch’s vision for the future of web3, ecommerce and the “u-word” is one where the user experience is seamless, portable, trustworthy, and transparent. Per Byron, “We should keep the philosophy of web3 but make the UX just like web2—because we’ve spent the last 30 years perfecting it.”
Watch the Instagram video recap of the panel above.