Original author:SamanthaCompilation of the original text: Gu Yu, Chain Catcher
Original title: "How Web3 Writers Do Research》
Compilation of the original text: Gu Yu, Chain Catcher
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Enter Web3 Research
Research looks different when all the information you could possibly want is unrestricted and unlicensed.
From The Wall Street Journal to JStor to the Pew Research Center, do you need a subscription to get information like you do as a Web2 creator? Thankfully, no. Does this mean that information is easier to find? Um…. . nor.
In fact, finding information in Web3 is harder than it looks. This is because we lack the information aggregators and archaeologists we are used to relying on in the traditional world. Instead, you must be your own aggregator and archaeologist. You have to do more than just be a creator - you can also be an on-chain ontotologist, a Discord deep miner, and a Medium article miner.
1.Dune Analytics
Of course, this takes practice. But start with these ten tools I use to mine the informational gold buried out there.
2. DM on Discord and join the server
3. Advanced Twitter Search
4. Forum Posts and Comments
5. Token Explorer
6. Crypto philosophers of our time
7. Crypto-native publications we now have
8. Podcasts that broaden your mind
10. Block explorer
1.Dune Analytics
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In my opinion, Dune Analytics is the closest thing we Web3 creators have on earth to a gift from the divine. Anyone can create queries that run forever. Since this is probably my most common source of information gathering, I'll take the time to explain it.
Reason 1: Dashboards are very creative, which means you can include a lot of cool new information in your articles.See:BanklessDAO Tip Economy@paulapivat, my favorite dashboard, by Bankless' own
Provided, where else can you find this extremely unique dashboard? Centralized service? I think not.
Reason 2: You can learn SQL and make your own dashboards.If you are willing to put in the work, pleaselearn some SQL
(full disclosure - I'm not yet willing to put in the work) and make my own dashboard. The great thing about Dune is that you don't have to rely on anyone else for the necessary information — Web3 Archeology 101.
One of the things I like about Dune is that contributors can update content there with lightning speed. Even natively encrypted but still centralized analytics services experience some lag time. I was recently writing an article about OpenDAO, and it was great to see Dune contributors start making inquiries almost the same day the DAO launched.
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This chart shows SOS token holders over time
Reason 4: You can search for people who create dashboards and draw some interesting conclusions based on the information they choose to include and exclude.
If the person who created the dashboard has some relationship to the success of the token or DAO, then you can draw some conclusions as to why they might include some dashboards and ignore others. But be careful here because you don't want to get too crazy about the conclusions you draw. Just a fun exercise to do some wallet searching (see tactic #3) and twitter stalking (see tactic #10) of the person making the dashboard, and then think critically about why they did it.
Reason 5: You can befriend creators and ask them to make specific dashboards for you. (Being a friend usually means sending some tokens. But hey, never mind!)
Yes, use Dune. It's amazing.
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2. Sneak and ask their opinion on Discord (bonus points if you join their server)
Did you know that cryptocurrency enthusiasts like to talk about themselves? Shocking, I know. (Also guilty of liking to talk about myself.) But cold DMs are really one of the best ways to get information, especially if it's about something too early to find solid info on. (We're still early, right?)
You'd be surprised at how verbose contributors are when you ask interesting questions. Interviewing people via Discord chat is also less intimidating because both the interviewer and the interviewee have time to think about their responses and really craft their words.
I wouldn't quote anyone directly at a casual meeting, but if someone is giving a prepared talk, maybe pull out your notebook. Be polite in these situations and don't get too happy - I wouldn't be very happy if someone quoted me at a random conference where I didn't know I was being cited. Remember, this is the office and the stage. But definitely embrace the vibe, learn about DAOs, and start looking for contacts to interview.
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3. Advanced Twitter Search
If you haven't tried it, it's very interesting. By doing a proper search of the beasts of the Crypto twittersphere, you can unearth some super weird, funny, informative and downright wild stuff. That noisy place can sometimes feel like searching for a tiny fish in a vast ocean: what you're looking for can be deep. Advanced Twitter Search is your gold digging device. (Admittedly, I have no idea what people actually use to mine gold.)https ://twitter.com/search-advanced?lang=en
Bookmark this URL now before you forget to do it:
When you click it, this dialog appears in the center of the screen:
I usually fill in the boxes under "all of these words" and/or "any of these words". I'm usually looking for some specific events or topics that people are tweeting about, and I want to see what the most popular tweets are.An advanced Twitter search is a great way to gather an overall opinion on an idea. For example, I recently wrotewrote an article
Article about the MakerDAO/SocGen collaboration. I wanted to see what people on Twitter were saying after the initial announcement, so, separating my search terms with commas, I typed:
All these words: Maker, DAO, SocGen
Any of these words: OFH, tokenized bonds, SG-Forge, DAI, dai
Through this search, I found:
Overall perception of cooperation.
Twitter accounts of those involved in the collaboration, which could easily lead to more information (and potential sources of interviews).
People talk about a rough time frame for this collaboration.
If you're starting out and don't know where to go, I recommend doing an advanced Twitter search. You'll have a lot of interesting hot spots and ideas afterward.
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4. Forum Posts and Comments
Forums are where high-signal-low-noise DAO conversations take place. (Okay, sometimes loud.) These are Reddit-style open publishing platforms, where DAOs make governance decisions before on-chain approval. Think of them as digital town squares, where thought leaders and key members of the DAO share ideas and forge consensus on anything from new projects to protocol collaborations to governance ideas.
Forums are an important place for Web3 creators to spend their time. If you're writing about DAOs and don't dig into their forums, are you really writing about DAOs?
You can find the DAO forum by:Visit the DAO's website and check the footer for something like "governance," "forum," "community," or "conversation."Governance section。
Example: MakerDAO's footer has aVisit the DAO's Twitter account and see what their link is.
Sometimes you get lucky and it's a link that helps you find the forum. In the case of Discord, you may not be able to join unless you hold the required amount of tokens. So, DM the DAO twitter account or contributor and ask where their forum is. Or write tweets and @them. You will most likely get a response. DAOs love publicity!Enter the search engine [DAO NAME] + [Forums] or [DAO NAME] + [Discourse].
CoinGecko！(Yes, really. Read strategy #5.)
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5. CoinGecko and CoinHallCoinHallThese two token explorers are classic additions to a Web3 writer's toolbox. Here you can get detailed information about any coin you are looking for. I always start with CoinGecko (great for blue chips, has pretty much everything you could want) and if I can't find a coin there I migrate to
. Both should be bookmarked on your browser of choice.
I like to use the coin explorer to find:
Token market capitalization fluctuates.
Prices fluctuate.
Trading volume.
Forums and other links I'm trying to dig up. (If you jumped here from strategy #4: CoinGecko does have forum links!)
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6. Heavyweights: Vitalik, Balajee, Chris Dixon, and Bankless Writer Wednesday/Thought Thursday
Writer's Wednesday and Thought Thursday from Bankless
But seriously, it's not easy to find really good "thought pieces" for crypto audiences. Bookmark these gems and you'll use them again to help form your thoughts and shape your writing time and time again.
7. Crypto native publications: Messari, The Defiant, Decrypt, CoinTelegraph and CoinDesk
Messari's Free Newsletter
8. Podcasts: Uncommon Core, Bankless, Collectively Intelligent, On the other Side, Citizen Cosmos, The Defiant, Crypto Sapiens, and Terra Bites
I love podcasts, but I don't always use them as a research method because most Web3 podcasts are so long.
Having a healthy diet of various Web3 podcasts helps shape your own opinion and essay, which will inform your writing. What they are not good at is finding specific information. Instead, use these to challenge your beliefs, form your thoughts, and hey, maybe learn something!
Uncommon CoreMy recommendations to include in your rotation for a well-rounded and thorough educational podcast diet:
UpOnly: Applies to technical concepts and first principles.
Bankless: Perfect for interesting, unique conversations with crypto thought leaders.
Collectively Intelligent: Perfect for interviewing cryptocurrency thought leaders and those on or near Capitol Hill.
On the Other Side：: For organization-focused DAO and Web3 discussions.
Citizen CosmosSuitable for everyday DAO-centric conversations about how Web3 affects people.
The Defiant: Good for interviewing people in the Cosmos ecosystem (who are notoriously hard to pin down).
Crypto Sapiens: It is suitable for interviewing people with one foot in the traditional world and one foot in Web3, providing some perspectives.
Terra Bites: Good for interviewing founders of interesting protocols, mostly in Ethereum and Ethereum-adjacent spaces.
: For Terra ecosystem updates and technical concepts.
9. Very specific, gibberish-sounding Google searches because Google sucks at indexing encrypted content
You've probably noticed that sometimes when you search for a topic that's ingrained in Web3, you'll see a bunch of Forbes, New York Times, and WikiHow articles that are nowhere near what you're actually looking for. It's a symptom of being so new in our industry, and the Google algorithm is having a hard time keeping up. So to avoid getting the algorithm what it thinks you want, you need to tell it exactly what you want in order to find certain articles on platforms that many people have access to, like Medium, Notion, and Reddit.
Very good at using keywords. Many of them. In no time, you'll find the Notion page in a Google search. (Really! It's possible!) That's all the advice I get from googling cryptocurrencies. Good luck.
10. Block explorers (I find these a bit boring)
I've found that unless you know exactly what you're looking for, block explorers aren't very helpful. I honestly use these if I have a transaction stuck somewhere and have the typical panic attack wondering if I sent money to the wrong address. However, since block explorers are a unique feature for gathering on-chain data, I thought I'd include them.
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