Call for Diversity in Web 3.0 : Case Study of NFT Art Projects World of Women (WoW) and Women Rise

Abstract: Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital assets that exist in the blockchain with a unique signature that has been gaining significant attention starting from the early 2021. While NFTs can be anything stored digitally from text to music, since these digital tokens enable artists to democratize their works, there has been a particular rise in using them to promote digital art which has long been undervalued. With NFTs’ potentially holding the power to transform the art world and imminent Web 3.0, the lack of women representation in NFT space and blockchain has started to occupy the agenda of mission-driven artists, sparking conversations around the issue that has led some female artists to begin strategically taking up their space in a male-dominated market with different initiatives and projects. World of Women (WoW) and Women Rise are two separate NFT art projects that aim to diversify and balance the NFT space. They put emphasis on increasing the representation of women while empowering them to participate in blockchain and NFT space by using the tools of Web 3.0 to challenge gender biases and ‘decentralize’ power structures. Herewith, this research by examining these NFT projects will explore how exactly NFT art projects can culminate a more inclusive environment towards Web 3.0, the future of internet. The project will try to uncover the mechanisms and strategies of these NFT art projects through the themes of voice, agency, and representation by using a case-study approach. The project will be analyzing the findings with the guidance of the conceptual framework that is operationalized though Roberts’ ICT4D Intent and Practice Matrix. The data used for this research consists of chosen web pages of the websites of these projects and media texts that feature the projects and the artists who founded these projects. The findings will in the end reveal through what types of practices these projects unlock social change and enable representation based on their conformist, reformist, and transformist inclinations.