Taste and Self-Sovereign Identity: Navigating the Overwhelm of Peak Content
"In the age of abundance, value accrues to those who can select. The future belongs to taste makers" - Rafa The Builder.
It’s no secret that we exist in a state of content overwhelm. A 2021 TikTok survey revealed that nearly half of its users experience stress from videos exceeding a minute in length.
The abundance of content often leads to analysis paralysis, particularly when searching for something as personal as a new outfit or album to listen to. The sheer volume of choices can be paralyzing, making it difficult to make a decision.
The solution to this overwhelm lies in knowing your taste. In an era of digital excess, understanding and harnessing your individual taste becomes crucial for navigating the online space.
Personal taste helps us sift through the mass content, allowing a more profound understanding of ourselves and enabling us to find content that resonates. We also often depend on the taste of others - publications, celebrities, and peers - to guide us through the digital clutter.
However, the concept of taste-based navigation is elusive in the current digital landscape. Our personal tastes are fragmented across the web - with music preferences, fashion choices, and favorite hangouts all residing in separate digital spaces.
As we move towards the next generation of the web, amalgamating these fragments of taste becomes essential for navigating the parts of the internet that intersect with your aesthetic identity.
Identity Debt in the web2 Era
In the current web environment, users often trade parts of their identity for access to services. This fragmentation of identity across platforms like Spotify, Pinterest, and SSENSE creates a phenomenon RADAR refers to as 'Identity Debt'. Each platform holds a fragment of our identity, leading to a more fractured self-representation online.
This fragmentation hinders the ability to fully own or leverage taste as a form of reputation nor are we able to connect with others based on a complete understanding of each other’s likes and dislikes.
For tastemakers, this fragmentation is particularly striking. Brands now rely on the interaction and feedback from consumers for product development. Yet, the contributions made by individuals in shaping these trends are seldom recognisable or quantified.
Influencers with significant followings may have their tastes acknowledged, but this recognition is ultimately platform-bound and lacks portability.
Overall, in contrast to the fluid and composable nature of identity in the real world, online identities are discrete and segregated.
Taste and Self-Sovereign Identity in web3
Self-sovereign identity (SSI) is a foundational element of web3, embodying the principle that individuals own and control their identities. Ideally, SSI would enable users to own their taste. However, there are challenges to this integration.
Crypto wallets, for instance, can exacerbate identity debt, with different wallets holding various assets and tokens.
For consumer goods, similar issues arise. The fashion industry predicts a future where a customer’s interactions with digitally enabled clothing look a little like this:
At a Staud x New Balance event in SoHo, scanning your bag earns you a POAP, f joins your bag in your DFC. As a thank you for attending, both brands drop you a 10% discount. Fast forward: you’re at a Drake concert, and he digitally autographs your bag. Your friend Emily ‘likes’ the signature and teases, “Introduce us? 😍”. Finally, the bag reminds you of Mediterranean summers, so you curate a Spotify playlist called ‘Sobremesa’ and link it to your bag via your DFC.
While the interaction opportunities are varied and exciting - there still remains the question of where all of this data lives and how it comes together with all the other parts of your identity.
Efforts like Sismo and Disco.XYZ have made strides in addressing these challenges by enabling users to link various profiles and create portable data 'backpacks' respectively.
However, these solutions do not fully address the disconnect between our online and offline tastes. Ultimately, we still exist in a world where we connect with each other through IRL tastes. The music that somebody listens to, the content they consume, the clothes they wear. Yet, this information isn not easily accessible on-chain.
Introducing Taste ID
Esoteric's Taste ID aims to bridge this gap by bringing personal taste on-chain. It provides trendsetters with a platform to showcase and gain recognition for their taste through a portable digital profile that travels with them throughout the internet.
Taste ID is built on three pillars: a digital shareable profile to articulate and showcase taste, a community network for connection based on taste, and a unique identifier for internet-wide portability.
We are starting with profiles that enables users to curate clothing, music, and places, allowing users to wear their taste badges across various profiles. This approach not only facilitates personal expression but also enhances discoverability and connection over shared interests.
By aggregating tastes into a portable 'Taste ID', we reduce the friction of onboarding and the 'cold start' problem for projects and brands, facilitating a more personalized interaction.
Towards a Taste-First Internet
The journey from a fragmented digital identity in web2 to a unified, self-sovereign identity in web3 transcends technological advancement. It is about reclaiming digital autonomy and reshaping our online experiences to reflect the richness of our real-life identities.
Embracing 'Taste ID' paves the way for a future where online interactions are as nuanced and meaningful as offline ones. It represents a shift towards a taste-centric internet, where personal preferences are not only recognized but also rewarded.
We’ll be launching our taste profile creator in the coming weeks. Join us in building an internet that understands and amplifies our unique tastes and preferences.