Existing Problems
1. Creator Monetization Delays: Platforms often take weeks to pay creators — ZE23 offers instant monetization.
In the traditional creator economy, many creators confront substantial delays and uncertainties when it comes to monetization. For example, a survey found that 87% of creators reported being paid late, receiving incorrect amounts or not being paid at all. Business Insider
Moreover, while the creator economy market is expanding rapidly (valued at hundreds of billions), many monetization platforms remain slow or opaque in how and when payments reach creators.
This lag in monetization creates cash-flow stress for creators, limiting their ability to reinvest, ramp up production, or plan ahead. The delay becomes a significant friction point — by contrast, a platform that offers instant monetization (e.g., payment at or near the time content is consumed or engaged with) addresses a major pain point.
Implication: A system offering near-real-time payouts would appeal strongly to creators who hunger for more predictable and timely revenue pipelines.
2. Fan Passivity: Viewers get no financial return from the content they boost — ZE23 rewards them.
A second major problem in the content economy stems from the fact that fans are often passive recipients of content — they consume, like/subscribe, maybe share — but rarely receive any financial upside from the value they help create. Research shows that younger audiences are increasingly looking for active participation: for example, 31% of European viewers message friends about what they watch.
Furthermore, only about 35% of creators earn money through ad revenue, and a large majority still struggle to support themselves. This suggests that much of the financial value remains concentrated with platforms and creators, while everyday fans remain “free riders” of sorts. The lack of mechanisms for fans to share in upside (via tokens, rewards, revenue splits, community ownership) means that large swathes of value-creation (through sharing, boosting, engagement) go unrewarded.
Implication: A platform model that rewards fans financially (e.g., token-based rewards, revenue share for amplification) can tap into the latent value of engaged audiences, creating stronger loyalty and network effects.
3. Web2 Platform Greed: Most platforms retain all ad revenue — ZE23 distributes it.
n the Web2 era, many platforms capture the lion’s share of revenue generated by creator-driven content. For example, on YouTube standard ad revenue sharing for creators is 55% while the platform keeps 45%. But beyond that, this leaves limited upside for creators once platform costs, competition, algorithm changes and monetization thresholds are accounted for. Also, only about 4% of creators earn more than US$100 k per year, leaving the vast majority earning far less.
Additionally, analytics suggest that Web2 creator monetization systems are opaque, centralized and less flexible: many creators report that the revenue splits and rules favour the platform rather than the creator. As one Web3-analyst put it: “Web2 SoMe platforms typically take more than 50 % of the revenue generated.”
Implication: A platform that shifts the economics to favour creator and fan-ownership (rather than platform extraction) stands out as a compelling alternative.
4. Web3 Complexity: Crypto-native platforms often lack user-friendliness — ZE23 is built to onboard Web2 users easily.
As the industry transitions toward Web3 models, a key barrier emerges: complexity. Blockchain-based platforms promise fairer splits and community ownership, but most users (creators and fans) find onboarding, wallets, token-mechanics and decentralized governance cumbersome. One research paper notes that while Web3 creator economy models promise more control, they “had not yet generated nearly as stable and efficient revenue schemes” as Web2 platforms.
Furthermore, though the overall creator economy is projected to reach perhaps US$480+ billion by 2030. The gap between Web2 ease of use and Web3 potential remains large. This gap turns many creators and fans away from Web3 models, simply because the user experience is not yet friction-free.
Implication: A platform built with Web2-style ease-of-use but backed by Web3 economics (tokens, revenue share, community governance) can overcome adoption hurdles and unlock mainstream creator & fan participation.
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