Web 3, also known as Web 3.0, has become a bit of a buzz word over the last few months, largely among those interested in cryptocurrency as it will bring a new level to the internet that promotes decentralized protocols.
The first version of the Internet, known as Web 1, arrived in the late 1990s and was essentially a collection of links and homepages. Websites weren’t particularly interactive and you couldn’t do much apart from read things and publish basic content for others to read.
Web 2 came next, which some people call the ‘read/write’ version of the internet, in reference to a computer code that lets you both open and edit files rather than just view them. This version of the Internet allowed people to not only consume content, but create their own and publish it on blogs, later, the emergence of social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram took content sharing to new heights.
Although Web 2 has brought the world amazing free services, a lot of people have grown tired of the new ‘walled gardens’ these huge tech companies have created and want to have more control over their data and content.
This is where Web 3 comes in.
The CoinDesk reports that Web 3 can be understood as the “read/write/own” phase of the Internet.
Rather than just using free tech platforms in exchange for our data, users can participate in the governance and operation of the protocols themselves. This means people can become participants and shareholders, not just customers or products.
In Web 3, these shares are called tokens or cryptocurrencies, and they represent ownership of decentralized networks known as blockchains. If you hold enough of these tokens, you have a say over the network.
Holders of governance tokens can spend their assets to vote on the future of, say, a decentralized lending protocol.
What can you do on Web 3?
Web 3 makes the proliferation of cooperative governance structures for once-centralized products possible. Anything at all can be tokenized, whether it’s a meme, a piece of art or a person’s social media output.
A great example of the paradigm shift is in the gaming industry.
Gamers grumble endlessly about the bugs that developers leave in their favorite video game, or how the latest patch has upset the balance of their favorite weapon. With Web 3, gamers can invest in the game itself and vote on how things should be run.
Criticisms about Web 3
The main criticism of Web 3 technology is that it falls short of its ideals.
Ownership over blockchain networks is not equally distributed but concentrated in the hands of early adopters and venture capitalists.
But despite its problems, Web 3 has a lot of potential. Whether it’s too idealistic to put into practice will be something that everyday users will discover over the next decade.
WARNING: Nothing in this article should be read or understood to be financial and/or investment advice. Readers should take their own financial advice from a suitably qualified independent financial adviser before making any investment decisions.
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