From Platforms to Protocols: How Web3 Is Rewriting the Creator Economy

If you have been a consistent reader of Hashed Out you have probably heard us reference Web 1.0 as the ‘read’ web, Web 2.0 as the ‘read and write’ web (or the social web) and Web 3.0 as the ‘read, write, own’ web. For writers, artists, photographers, and other creative types, Web 2.0 gave rise to a new creator economy that democratized the distribution of content creation.

For the first time in history, people could build careers — and income streams — around their creativity online. Whether you wrote essays, filmed tutorials, mixed beats, or posted the details of your life or imagination on social media, the rise of platforms like YouTube, Substack, Instagram, and Patreon gave everyday creators tools to reach audiences directly.

But in Web2, the platforms that give are also the ones that taketh away.

Algorithms shift. Revenue splits shrink. Gatekeepers return — just with different usernames. And in many cases, creators still build their businesses on rented land. They don’t control their distribution, their data, or their income streams. For all the promise, most creators remain dependent — not empowered.

Web3 is changing that.

Instead of platforms, Web3 gives us protocols — open systems that allow creators to own their work, build communities, earn income directly, and move across the internet with their audience intact.

This isn’t about ditching Substack or Instagram overnight. It’s about expanding creative agency — and reclaiming the value creators generate.

The Platform Problem

In theory, Web2 made it easy to be a creator. But in practice, it made it easy to be dependent.

• Writers on Substack are subject to churn and paywalls, with limited discoverability and reliance on email as the primary channel. Even if you build a list, most growth depends on word-of-mouth or recommendation algorithms you don’t control. Your relationship with readers lives in Substack’s system, not yours.

• Visual artists on Instagram have no reliable monetization path and face ever-changing algorithms.
  You may get likes and follows, but turning that into income is still a manual hustle — and just when your reach grows, the algorithm changes and your engagement drops overnight.

• YouTubers and TikTokers build followings but get a small slice of the revenue — and can be demonetized or shadowbanned without warning (particularly in today’s emotionally charged environment). When (or if) you do get flagged the loss of income can be devastating and options for recourse limited. 

• Patreon creators are often trapped in a subscription model that rewards consistency over creativity, and rely on a third-party platform to host their community. You’re on a treadmill: constantly producing to avoid churn. And if Patreon changes policies or shuts down your account, you risk losing your entire paid base overnight.

The ‘platform problem’ is not just a creator income problem, it is a freedom of speech problem where the platform on which you publish serves as the judge and jury for what it deems acceptable content.

What Web3 Offers Creators 

Web3 tools allow creators to bypass intermediaries, tokenize their work, build community-run ecosystems, and earn income in new ways.

1. Ownable Media

With NFTs (non-fungible tokens), a creator’s work becomes a digital object that can be owned, collected, and traded. This gives fans a way to support creators directly — and gives creators royalty income each time the work is resold.

Think of it like a signed, limited-edition vinyl — only digital, traceable, and globally tradable. Platforms like Manifold, Zora, and Foundation make it easy to mint and sell media with built-in royalty rules.

2. Portable Identity & Audience

In Web3, creators don’t build followers on a platform — they build a wallet-based community that follows them across apps. Your audience can come with you from Farcaster to Lens to your own website.

Instead of being locked into one app’s ecosystem, you have a direct line to your supporters. You can reward collectors, message token-holders, and move your content where you like — without starting over.

3. Community Monetization

Rather than relying on subscriptions, creators can issue social tokens, limited-edition collectibles, or gated experiences that allow supporters to own a stake in their success.

You could launch a digital membership token that grants early access, private meetups, or co-creation opportunities — turning your fans into your backers and collaborators.

4. Crowdfunding, Without the Platform Fees

Web3-native crowdfunding lets creators raise funds directly — no Kickstarter or GoFundMe middlemen. Projects can be funded transparently with crypto, and supporters receive tokenized rewards in return that offer future access or serve as a digital collectible.  The nature of the perks offered and who can take advantage of them is solely up to the creator–no platform interference.

Web3 for Writers: From Margin Notes to Monetized Communities

For many writers — especially poets, essayists, and magazine contributors — the idea of entering the “creator economy” can feel crass. These are often people who’ve spent years refining their craft in MFA programs or the pages of The Atlantic, Harpers, or The Paris Review — not chasing algorithms or selling Substack subscriptions. They’ve built credibility through ideas, not virality. Yet their financial reality often doesn’t reflect the cultural value they create.

Web3 offers an alternative path — one that doesn’t ask writers to abandon literary integrity, chase trends, or become influencers. Instead, it provides new infrastructure for writers to own their work, fund their practice, and connect with readers directly on terms that reflect their values.

Publish, Mint, and Monetize on Your Own Terms

Platforms like Mirror.xyz allow writers to publish essays, memoirs, or even experimental verse as blog-like posts that are also collectibles. A piece can be free to read, but with an option to mint a limited-edition NFT — effectively giving supporters a way to own a copy of the work. This isn't paywalling; it's patronage plus provenance.

If a poem or essay is minted by 25 supporters at 0.01 ETH each (about $35 at time of writing), that’s over $800 — far more than the check from most literary journals. And if one of those collectors resells it later, the writer can earn royalties via smart contracts. That’s income from secondary markets, something unheard of in traditional publishing.

Tools like Manifold and Zora let writers mint more complex NFT packages: a digital chapbook, an essay series with audio narration, or a collectible paired with a physical object — like a signed broadside or letterpress print. This hybrid model speaks to many writers’ sensibilities: part artifact, part experiment.

From Readers to Community

Beyond the mint, Web3 can turn readers into participants. A poet might release a small run of collectible tokens that unlock access to a Discord community, behind-the-scenes drafts, or occasional one-on-one sessions. Tools like Paragraph.xyz, Bonfire, and Guild.xyz let writers create token-gated newsletters or events without locking themselves into Substack or Patreon.

Importantly, Web3 doesn’t require scale — it rewards depth. A few dozen true patrons can sustain a project in a way a thousand casual readers never could.

Real-World Examples

While many Web3 creator stories focus on musicians or visual artists, a handful of literary writers and indie thinkers are quietly exploring this space:

• Sasha Stiles, a poet and AI researcher, has minted generative poetry NFTs and sold digital chapbooks through platforms like Foundation and Quantum Art. Her 2021 work “BINA48”, a collaboration between human and AI-generated verse, sold as a 1/1 NFT, which means it is a 1 of 1 or fully unique creative asset. She’s since released several series exploring themes of language, consciousness, and posthuman creativity, and is seen as a pioneer in the “crypto-poetics” niche.

• Mirror has hosted a growing number of longform essays from independent journalists, critics, and cultural theorists. Writers have serialized fiction, shared political manifestos, or launched paid newsletters with NFT-backed entries. Some use Mirror’s crowdfund tool to raise support for multi-part investigations or upcoming books — giving backers collectible proof-of-support.

• Independent publishers like Plinth, Refraction, and Constellation DAO are building ecosystems to support literary and experimental writing in Web3. These groups operate as community-curated publishing collectives: they select and promote work, fund experimental ‘zines’ and chapbooks, and help creators tokenize their writing for both cultural and financial value. Think of them as part literary press, part crypto co-op.

We are still in the early days, and not every writer will want to go down the rabbit hole. But for those willing to experiment, Web3 can offer a new model: one that treats writing not as disposable content, but as collectible culture — rare, valuable, and owned by those who believe in it.

What's Next: A Hybrid Future

To be clear, Web3 isn’t here to replace Web2 — at least not yet. But it is building a parallel ecosystem: one where creators don’t have to ask permission, chase clicks, or live at the mercy of a single platform.

The next generation of successful creators may not be the ones with the biggest following. They may be the ones with the most loyal community — and the most ownership of their creative infrastructure.

And in Web3, that infrastructure is finally up for grabs.

Stay ahead of the curve with the latest in Web3 culture and innovation. Subscribe to Hashed Out for exclusive insights, case studies, and deep dives into the decentralized future.

Other Articles In This Issue:

• Editorial: Don’t Call It a Side Hustle: Why Creators Deserve Ownership

• Getting Started as a Web3 Creator (Especially if You’re a Writer)

• CHECK OUT OUR PREVIOUS EDITIONS