Developing use cases for nonfungible tokens (NFTs), the Metaverse, and other blockchain applications has made Web3 the most sought-after investment area of 2022. Therefore, it shouldn’t be shocking that several parts of the publishing industry have started utilizing Web3 technology to modify conventional models.

As an illustration, the world’s largest publisher of textbooks, Pearson, recently disclosed plans to employ NFTs to track digital textbook sales and recover money wasted on the secondary market. The 99-year-old Time magazine has also been using NFTs to develop new revenue sources and a feeling of community inside the publishing sector. According to Time’s president Keith Grossman, the publication showcases the new opportunities for involvement that Web3 offers the publishing sector. He stated:

“In a world where people are transitioning from being online renters to online owners, and privacy is starting to transfer from platforms to the person, Web3 can grow one’s identity.”

A community of content owners is enabled via Web3.

Although hosting an NFT gallery by one of the most venerable and venerable magazine publishers in the business might appear out of the ordinary, Grossman revealed that Time had dropped close to 30,000 NFTs so far. He continued by saying that over 15,000 wallet addresses have gathered these, and 7,000 were linked to Time.com so that the paywall could be removed without needing personal data. The TIMEPiece community now includes more than 50,000 people, according to Grossman.

Grossman noted that Time established TIMEPieces, a Web3 community initiative, in September 2021 to put this in perspective. In this project, 89 painters, photographers, and even musicians have come together in a digital exhibition space offered on the NFT marketplace OpenSea. “TIMEPiece artists now number 89, up from 38 previously. Drift, Cath Simard, Diana Sinclair, Micah Johnson, Justin Aversano, Fvckrender, Victor Mosquera, and Baeige, to mention a few, are among the artists on it, according to Grossman.

Although significant, the distinction between “audiences” and “communities” matters most regarding this expansion. Grossman claimed that while there aren’t many people in the publishing industry who can tell these two groups apart, Web3 offers “a fantastic potential for anybody eager to examine this omission.” For instance, according to Grossman, an audience only pays attention to content for a brief period. But he pointed out that a community comes together around common ideals and has access to ongoing interaction. He stated:

Stability is a community’s long-term value, and publishing is anything from stable. Healthy ‘communities’ have moats that make them more difficult to destabilize or bypass. They require a lot of effort to grow and maintain, though.

Will #Web3 advance the publishing 📚 industry? It already has…

Learn how #blockchain tech & #NFTs are helping publishers, authors & content creators find freedom in Web3. #TeamSuperWorld 🌎 ❤️ https://t.co/cVTCffgVKa

— SuperWorld (@superworldapp) August 12, 2022

Indeed, NFTs might be essential for giving the publishing industry the stability and customer engagement it needs to advance. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, corporations utilize NFTs in various ways to enhance client engagement over time.

Because of this, other parts of the publishing industry are beginning to use NFTs. For instance, the 300-year-old Dutch printing house Royal Joh Enschede is joining the Web3 market by offering its customers an NFT platform for “crypto stamps.” The postage stamp and philately industries are quite traditional, according to Gelmer Leibbrandt, CEO of Royal Joh Enschede, who also noted that nonfungible tokens would enable expansion. He stated:

“The crypto stamp opens up a global market that will appeal to collectors of modern stamps and those who buy, save, and trade NFTs in their teens, twenties, and thirties. This is obviously quite tempting for our primary clients, the more than 60 national postal organizations around the world.

Leibbrandt claims that Royal Joh Enschede began considering applications for blockchain technology more than two years ago. Still, the Dutch printing company began with crypto stamps due to their usefulness and marketability. Not only will stamp collectors be able to purchase a singular NFT, but the nonfungible tokens will also act as “digital twins” meant to add a degree of protection and authentication to its physical items, according to Leibbrandt.

Leibbrandt also pointed out that tying together real-world items with their digital counterparts gives users access to more capabilities. While he acknowledged that Royal Joh Enschede’s Web3 journey is just getting started, he added that the business has begun creating “notables,” which are intended to compete with safe, printed banknotes. He clarified:

“We can add augmented reality, among other things, by using specific printing techniques. This gives users access to exclusive online deals and a communication platform. Notables are distinctive, and the NFT element can be utilized as a collectible and a medium of exchange in the Metaverse.

Like Time, Royal Joh Enschede can create a community of collectors who can interact with the platform and one another thanks to crypto stamps and notables. “These can be connected to all new applications, such as entry to real-world events like Formula 1 or Tomorrowland, where only a few notes entitle holders to VIP packages. For the upcoming 100 years, we are establishing our company, said Leibbrandt.

Additionally, independent news organizations are beginning to use Web3 technologies to address one of the largest problems the media sector is currently facing: “fake news.” For instance, Bywire is a decentralized news network that identifies fraudulent or misleading news material using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and blockchain. According to Michael O’Sullivan, CEO of Bywire, the platform has developed and implemented a “trust or not” algorithm. This can give users an “at-a-glance” assurance that the information provided on the Bywire platform is reliable and that individuals who create it are, in fact, accountable, the author claimed.

O’Sullivan outlined how Bywire’s AI technology can quickly assess the credibility of a piece of information by “reading” it before it is published. The program then generates a recommendation and its justification after this is determined. O’Sullivan said, “The why is important because it makes customers aware of the goals and objectives of content creators.

O’Sullivan noted that while the idea was novel, any independent news organization could aggregate its news content to Bywire, exposing it to tens of thousands of readers each month. O’Sullivan pointed out that Bywire, like other publishers employing Web3 technology, has a community of readers connected to the platform and said that these people are encouraged to read the content. Every reader receives a free EOS account and may instantly begin earning token incentives, which can then be used to support democratic network monitoring.

Also, read – How Blockchain and NFTs are changing the world of gaming industry

Will Web3 help the publishing sector advance?

Although Web3 has the potential to revolutionize the publishing sector by enabling different industries to connect and engage with new audiences, the impact is still debatable. For instance, it has been reported that publishers are still unclear about how blockchain may and should be used.

According to Lars Seier Christensen, chairman of Concordium, the Swiss blockchain company that runs Royal Joh Enschede’s NFT platform, nonfungible tokens are now of no use to the majority of businesses. But he thinks that NFTs and other Web3 technologies will quickly take over as the standard:

“Since the acronym NFT can be unclear, let’s take a step back. It has been demonstrated that a blockchain may contain immutable data or records that are final and unchangeable and that everyone can easily access this data using the chain search engine.

According to Grossman, consumers shouldn’t use the term “NFT,” They don’t necessarily need to know what blockchain platform powers these applications. According to the experiences being offered, “they should be engaging with marketers,” he said. Before Steve Jobs revealed that the iPod could contain “1,000 tunes in your pocket,” Grossman continued, the growth of computers prompted a frequent conversation about technology. Grossman predicts that Web3 will experience a comparable moment, which has not yet materialized:

“Extreme good and bad extremes define most people’s opinions of NFTs and blockchains. The truth is that an NFT is only a token that confirms ownership on a blockchain, and corporations and individuals need to be educated on the variety of ways in which it can add value.