Yana Sosnovskaya’s Journey from Fashion to Web3

Yana Sosnovskaya is a cultural entrepreneur and visual storyteller based in New York City. She has extensive experience working in the fashion and media industries, and has been featured in such publications as Dazed, WWD, The Face, Metal Magazine and other. With a background in theater and fashion, Yana co-founded a fashion brand and digital media platform in Los Angeles that aimed to explore new femininity and challenge traditional gender norms. Her journey eventually led her to the web3 space, where she was drawn by the community’s values and beliefs.

At Zora, a decentralized auction protocol for NFTs on Ethereum, Yana joined the founding team to explore how decentralized technology can offer solutions to the limitations and challenges of traditional media. Yana believes that decentralized media has the potential to create a platform that is not owned by anyone and operates through decentralized governance and voting.

Decentralizing Media: Yana Sosnovskaya’s Vision for Zine and DAO Governance

Yana and her team at Zora are working on a solution to address the centralized ownership and control of traditional media, which can result in censorship and limit the freedom of expression of content creators. Zine, launched in August 2021, is a decentralized media platform focused on cultural journalism. The platform is ultimately determined by the community through decentralized governance and voting, while the editorial team still play a curatorial role. The Zine DAO will run on the Nouns model, which will generate revenue to incentivize or reward the contributors.

Yana believes that decentralized media has the potential to create a platform that is not owned by anyone, and instead operates through decentralized governance and voting. The editorial team will still play a curatorial role, but the direction of the platform will ultimately be determined by the community. Yana believes that technology will soon make this vision a reality, and it is worth exploring this new model for media.

“We have witnessed visual artists and musicians receiving their fair share of attention during the last bull cycle. Despite several text-format projects being launched, the traditional media industry has not fully explored the potential of blockchain. In my opinion, there is a significant opportunity for the media industry to benefit from blockchain technology, both technically and in terms of reputation.” — Yana

Empowering Mental Health: Yana Sosnovskaya’s Personal Connection and Advocacy in Web3

Aside from her work in media, Yana is passionate about mental health and its impact on individuals and society. With a personal connection to the topic, Yana is an advocate for mental health, speaking publicly and working to destigmatize the conversation around mental health and encourage people to seek professional help. She is considering starting a personal project focused on mental health in the web3 space to explore how technology can impact people’s well-being.

“There is still a great deal of stigma surrounding mental health. As someone who comes from a very conservative culture, I understand the challenges of being told by those around you that your struggles are imagined or can be overcome by simply being more optimistic or less lazy. This approach is not effective, and it would be unthinkable to tell someone with a physical ailment such as diabetes that their condition is not real. We need to take the same compassionate approach to mental health and work towards destigmatizing conversations around it. This is my personal goal — to raise awareness and promote greater understanding.” — Yana

Accessing Web3: Yana Sosnovskaya’s Insights on Barriers and Education for the Future

When asked about the accessibility of web3, Yana acknowledges that there are still some barriers to entry. The technical barriers to getting started with web3 and the need for greater education and awareness about the benefits and potential of decentralized technology need to be addressed. However, Yana remains optimistic about the future of web3 and its potential to improve media and journalism, as well as its potential to improve people’s mental health and well-being.

“I do not believe that web3 is currently accessible to everyone. There are two main obstacles to accessibility. Firstly, individuals who are being introduced to blockchain must be persistent and invest time and effort to understand it fully. Additionally, there is a risk of falling victim to scams and having one’s wallet drained. The second obstacle concerns the user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) of blockchain, which may be difficult for some to navigate. Furthermore, only people from developed and first-world countries are able to afford experimenting with blockchain, particularly when gas fees are as high as $10, $50, or even $100. It is unreasonable to expect individuals to invest in a technology they are unsure will bring benefits. Therefore, blockchain adoption is currently extremely privileged.” — Yana

Benefit from Yana’s knowledge and expertise on the possibilities of web3 media, as well as her motivation behind developing Zine — a platform dedicated to (sub)cultural production in the metacene, hosted on Zora, and much more 🔥

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Join the community to learn about @yanasosna and discover other founders and visionaries in the web3 community!

✨Follow Yana Sosnovskaya! Twitter: @yanasosna Website: yanasosna.com

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