The Inevitable Future of Composable Membership: Shaping Communities, Platforms, and Ecosystems

The Inevitable Future of Composable Membership: Shaping Communities, Platforms, and Ecosystems

Introduction:
As technology continues to evolve, it brings about inevitable changes that shape our future. In Kevin Kelly's book, "The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future," he identifies twelve forces that will shape the world we live in. One common thread that emerges from these forces is the concept of composable membership. This article will explore the connections between the technological forces discussed by Kevin Kelly and the role of composable membership in generating social capital.

The Inevitable Forces and Composable Membership:
One of the key points made in Kelly's book is that once something becomes free and ubiquitous, its position in the economic equation inverts. Banning the inevitable is counterproductive; embracing it with open eyes is a better approach. This idea resonates with the concept of composable membership, where membership is seen as bundles of access, permission, and status across different web services.

The Role of Access, Permission, and Status:
In the world of composable membership, access is essential for community discovery. Tokens, such as ERC20, play a significant role in providing fluid access to various services. Permissions, on the other hand, should be tightly coupled with a stake. There should be a level of risk involved in granting responsibilities to community members. Finally, status within a community is event-dependent and can be varied. It should not solely be based on token ownership but rather on attributes and metadata.

Membership Interoperability in Web3:
In the context of Web3, membership forms the basis for services, rather than the other way around as seen in Web2. This interoperability allows for a hierarchical membership structure, where different platforms own different components. Smart contracts act as APIs, enabling revenue splits and fitting around the composable membership systems created by the community. In essence, the community becomes the platform.

Building Social Capital through Composable Membership:
Composable membership plays a crucial role in generating social capital within a community. By defining roles, specifying incentives, and assigning roles to community members, trust, experimentation, and flexibility are fostered. Membership, identity, and relationships become proxies for reputation scores, enabling more creatively weighted incentives. Integration of membership systems into existing platforms may pose technical challenges, but with an identity solution and intuitive membership management, the platform integration problem can be elegantly tackled.

The Future of Composable Membership:
Composable membership not only shapes communities but also ecosystems and platforms. Ecosystems are already forming around metadata, forcing a reorganization of Web2 platforms to provide a more open surface for development. In the future, platforms will consist of composable components, each owned by a different platform, with the community at the center.

Actionable Advice:

1. Embrace the inevitable: Instead of resisting technological changes, embrace them with open eyes. Banning the inevitable is counterproductive.
2. Foster composable membership: Build a membership system that incorporates access, permission, and status to create a sense of belonging and social capital within a community.
3. Prioritize trust and engagement: Establish trust and encourage active participation within the community by designing incentives that align with membership, identity, and relationships.

Conclusion:
Composable membership is a powerful tool that shapes the future of communities, platforms, and ecosystems. By understanding the twelve technological forces that shape our future, as discussed by Kevin Kelly, and incorporating the principles of composable membership, we can navigate the evolving landscape of technology and harness its full potential for the benefit of society.