Crowdsourcing has given entrepreneurs and visionaries alike the ability to tap into the collective skills, perspectives and the brainpower of a large group of users to achieve a given goal.
While there are many platforms that people can use to build products, write novels and to get tasks done, Webe is a new and upcoming Malaysian platform that’s dedicated towards helping its users discover cool, new and local projects that have a positive social impact.
In essence, it’s a platform that empowers people to collectively do good, as well as helping them create and support projects that will positively impact Malaysia at a large.
Webe is a platform that’s open for all and it’s looking to help people achieve their dreams as long as they benefit the community. One thing for sure, it’s not a platform where one can champion a cause that will only benefit the individual him/herself.
This vision is also something that’s captured in their name, ‘we’ represents the community and ‘we be’ represents the collective purpose, intent and sense of belonging.
So How Does It Work?
This platform is entirely free to join and use—you don’t have to spend money even to support a particular idea. This platform makes use of a point system that rewards users every time they work towards supporting a particular cause or an idea on the platform. The points that people use in turn can be used to support an idea and champion its cause.
There are a few social projects that are currently listed on the platform, and every time registered users read articles, watch videos, come up with new ideas or share a page from the platform, they will be rewarded with webits. Webits is their platform-specific currency that users can in turn use to fund projects on the platform. It’s important to note that webits are non-transferrable, you can’t purchase them and neither can you exchange them for hard cold cash.
It’s just a point-based system that incentivises users on the platform to interact and truly champion the causes they really care about. Unlike crowdfunding platforms, where people are only as dedicated or committed towards a project depending on their financial contribution, using a point-based system like Webits motivates users for the right reasons, and helps them stay more committed towards a particular cause. The amount of Webits you earn on the platform aren’t project specific either, so you can read numerous articles, watch videos and come up with ideas, and as you accrue Webits, you can use them to fund any project on the platform.
Given that this is the engine that fuels interaction and behavior on the platform, it’s able to achieve two key things. Firstly, loyal users will definitely be engineers of change and secondly, new users have something to look forward to every time they’re on the platform.
Every new social project that’s listed on the platform requires a certain number of webits to be unlocked. Registered users can then work towards earning webits, and they can contribute their own webits to projects they care about. Once projects are funded with enough webits, they’ll be unlocked and this will allow people to discuss and find new and creative ways to get them to fruition. If projects aren’t funded within the deadline, then those projects will be scrapped from the platform. This makes the entire process quite democratic, as only the causes that are important and have an appeal to large number of users will get funded.
Supporting Cool Projects
One project on Webe that I found to be really interesting was Project Music, and the premise of the project was to highlight local musicians from a diverse range of genres. Project Music is all about giving local Malaysian musicians a chance to get heard and a space to grow both locally and globally.
You could support the project by checking out the Raising the Bar Festival or by keeping up with the Raising The Bar Tour. The Raising The Bar Tour is a nationwide tour that showcases Malaysia’s Hip-Hop talents, and the best will be showcased on a bigger stage at the Raising The Bar Fest 2016.
Although I’m not a fan of the local hip-hop scene, largely because I’m unaware of any good artists, this project still resonates with me because I’ve have been an avid fan of rap music for quite some time now.
I still remember the first time I heard a rap record (Kanye West – Stronger) when I was 14, and I began listening to artists like Eminem, DMX, T.I, 50 cent, and so on.
Given that these artists had a significant impact in my life, I understand the passion that hip-hop artists place in their craft to be heard and respected as artists. If you share a similar passion, you can support Project Music by watching the videos, attending the events (the show dates are mentioned on the platform) or by sharing the content through your social media.
There are other projects that help local creators to collaborate and showcase their work, spread the cycling culture, etc. If you resonate with any of these projects, you can sign up at Webe and do your part in supporting them and making them happen.