Since the United States Presidential election, we heard a lot from the media about the mass exodus from X to Bluesky. The numbers do not seem to bear this out although there was significant growth in the users on Bluesky.
Hence, we have an "X killer".
How many times have we hear this? Actually, it seems to crop up in many areas. What were all the "Ethereum Killers" again?
Back when Musk purchased X, we discussed some of the plans for the platform. The goal was not to remain a microblogging platform. The idea was to become the "Everything App".
According to the CEO, Linda Yaccarino, 2025 is going to see a big step taken in this direction. It is something that Web 3.0 should pay attention to.
Source
X Moving Towards The Everything App In 2025
This is something that is crucial for advocates of Web 3.0. X is a traditional Web 2.0 platform and that is not going to change. Even if there is integration with cryptocurrency, we are looking at something that is centrally owned, controlled, and has the business structure that we dealt with for centuries.
Look at the post by the CEO, we see media, money, and AI as the areas of focus that were mentioned.
We discussed the idea of a payment system in earlier articles. X was filing for money transfer licenses in the different states in the U.S. This would allow the platform to operate in a manner similar to PayPal.
Of course, speculation long has been there will be crytpo integration. Grok provided this as to what X Money will entail:
X Money will integrate both traditional fiat and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and XRP into its payment system.
It is expected to function by allowing users to execute transactions, potentially in a new currency, which might involve trading in fiat on X for this new currency.
The payment system is part of X's strategy to become an 'everything app', combining social interaction, media consumption through X TV, and financial transactions.
As for the payments, not much new there. However, there is something that could be even bigger, at least for the crypto community.
It talks about fiat and crypto as part of the payments. That said, it also mentioned the potential of a new currecy on X which would be traded in fiat. Could this be a X stablecoin?
More importantly, as I read this, I see the potential for an exchange. If the new currency can bridge between fiat and crypto, X could basically operate a crypto exchange. Under this scenario, instead of competing against PayPal, it would also rival Coinbase.
We will have to see what this looks like as it gets closer to rollout.
As for X Media, there are few details available on how that will operate. Grok on X did not offer much insight leaving us to speculate what it will be. Perhaps there will be contracting with broadcast networks to operate on X, something similar to what Google did.
Nevertheless, this is what it gave us:
X TV aims to connect users in unprecedented ways by providing a platform for media consumption.
It is designed to replace traditional set-top boxes, offering live channels for movies, music, news, sports, and weather.
The Lesson For Web 3.0
As stated in the past, social media as a destination is dead.
After reading these plans, can anyone say Bluesky is even remotely in position to be an "X Killer"? That platform wants to be an alternative in social media . X is aiming much higher.
By they way, Meta is also changing things severely, which will be the topic for tomorrow's article.
Going back to X, one thing Web 3.0 has going for it is the financial aspect is built in. Obviously, fiat currency is not involved yet payment rails can be established using crypto. As the overall infrastructure is built, it becomes easier to swap from one currency to another. This means that matching currencies is not required. People can purchase something using DASH even if the vendor wants USDC. The swapping can be done autonomously.
Lesson number 1: social media is not a desintation, it is a pathway.
It is foolish to build a social media platform. That is yesterday's news and, quite frankly, is already locked down. Instead, social media is a way to get users to provide the next lesson.
Lesson number 2: social media is a path to more data.
Data is crucial. Even in this article, we can see how X is pulling from the database to offer up easy access to information. This was possible because of the 17 years of data it has. Also, it is updating the database each time a new post is made. We can only imagine what X's vector database looks like.
Lesson number 3: social media silos no longer exist.
X is expanding past social media. In fact, the line between media and social media is quickly fading. The idea is to have a platform that attracts users, then keep feeding them more.
Lesson number 4: build things that generate more data.
Everything that X is doing will generate more data.
Think of the payment/crypto system. Each of those transactions is captured in the database. This is tied to the account, furthering the profile of the user. If we add in X Media, we see how this is similar to Netflix with regards to recommendation, feedback, and overall viewing for the media providers.
Lesson number 5: give people what they need.
This would seem trivial but is missing in the Web 3.0. Where do people go for entertainment? News? Information? AI services?
Are people finding what they need on Web 3.0 platforms? I think the answer is clear.
What we have is applications that were developed to target specific niches. It was done in a time when that was the overall structure. However, as we see, this is changing rapidly.
Both X and Meta now offer microblogging. This is another treasure trove of data generated for Zuckerberg. X is incorporating video, perhaps looking to take on YouTube. It is also considered the top destination for news, usurping the tradtional avenues of television or newspapers (news sites).
Web 3.0 will not succeed if people stop by for a singular use, like swapping some tokens, and then leave because they want to find out what is taking place in the world. X is showing how important it is to give people all they can while still on the site.
The goal should be to provide services. If people look for it on Web 2.0, then it should be available.
That should be the focus in 2025.