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Ever wondered what Web3 is? Oh right, of course, I guess that's why you visited this article in the first place, my bad.
List of what you will be reading
- What is web3?
- What is the point of web3?
- Is web3 a cryptocurrency?
- Is web3 going to be successful?
What is Web3?
Web3 is the new era of the internet, which is built under a decentralized blockchain network.
Some people believe Web3 (also known as "web3.0") is still in progress. Although, web3 has been around for like years back, but only came to be famous recently, due to the hype all over it since some part of it is Crypto related.
Crypto-related?
What do you mean, chill out I'll refer back to that in a sec
Hold up
Are you also wondering if there was ever web2.0 and web1.0?
Because if you are, I am glad to tell you that there once was web1.0 and web2.0 which we all are making use of now. You don't get it, do you?
Relax, let's go a little bit into details, let me take you back
Web1 (also called " web1.0"), is known to be the first browsing internet, it lasted from 1989 to 2005, it was only a read-only internet or as most people know it, read -only-web, it only favored the publishers, it had just one-way form of information, which is from the publisher to the reader you could only read or consume content, and that's all.
Examples of web1 - read-only-web are Yahoo, Altavista, and some other basic supportive tools like Web development tools (HTML editors) and basic search engines, such as AliWeb.
Web2 (also known as web2.0), is what we all are making use of now. It came around in the 90s to 2004, with web1 being limited to just viewing content, web2 came in a whole new level, you could not only view or read content, but you could also create your own content and by that, you participate and interact with the internet.
Typical examples are social media or networking sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, you probably get the idea by now
But this said internet has a catch, the catch is, it favors the owners of these sites, it favors them so much with your personalized data and activities that they began to monetize your data to companies for marketing and advertisements
Think about it,
You probably think Twitter, Facebook, and those social media you browse on are free
But Nah
It's more like you're paying for the free service with your personalized data
Now, that's where web3 comes in to be like the savior, who will protect your data, or allow you to monetize your data yourself if you want to. Web3 is here to be the decentralized internet, with web3 you are the boss of yourself and your data. Some believe Web3 is a pay-to-play internet, in which every activity and social interaction becomes a financial instrument to be bought and sold.
What's the point of Web3?
• Self-governing: Unlike web2 platforms, where your data is being taken advantage of, and monetized by companies, with web3, you will be the one to control your data yourself, and let it out yourself if you want to, no big company would be able to take advantage of your data, at least not for free, you will also have 100% full ownership of your digital assets, there are no third parties.
• Permissionless: This is mostly about Web3 applications, with web3 apps which will be known as dapps (decentralized applications), you would not need any permission to make use of Web3 applications since it's built on an anonymous decentralized system, anyone can make use of them, regardless of age or location, in short, there will be no more limitations, and since it is decentralized there will be no blocking or denying you of their services.
It's different from web2, like some payment platforms, that won't allow you to… well, use their platform if you're not 18 or older yet.
• Native payments: Tired of payment platforms like stripe or PayPal that require you to submit some of your sensitive information to sign up for their platform? No worries, web3 payments are decentralized and made in the native token (ETH) meaning that web3 payments do not need any personal data or information from you to make use of their service to the fullest.
And also, web3 servers can't go down since they also use Ethereum, a network with large numbers of computers at the backend.
OK, earlier I mentioned web3 came into hype because of some Crypto-related part of it, you probably thought for a sec there,
Is Web3 a Cryptocurrency?
No, Web3 is not a Cryptocurrency.
Although, web3 when mentioned might also make you think of Cryptocurrency, because of the hype or the FOMO (fear of missing out) started around web3 protocols on Cryptocurrency, like the play-to-earn (P2e) video games that reward players with crypto tokens, for example, Silk, it is a game that pays when you play it, it rewards you with crypto StarTerra (STT) which can be traded on Cryptocurrency exchanges.
Aside from that, there are also some other protocols that web3 offers that have things to do with the hype around it like decentralized social networks and NFT platforms that allow people to trade fragments of digital art.
Is web3 going to be successful?
I know, I know, since web3 is all about being decentralized and making us have total control over our data, I know where this question is coming from, because looking at it, web3 doesn't seem like it is to favor any centralized social network.
And you might be thinking, if web2, the centralized social network or media can take our data and activities and monetize it for their use, and if web3 is coming to put that away, where will the centralized socials going to get their monetization from when our data ain't there for them to monetize no more?
Alright, chill… relax,
Well, I asked Brian same question on Twitter and he answered, he said; "They have other sources like shares, bonds and web2 is still going to be around when web3 is around it’s more about adoption than competition"
Which means, web3 coming doesn't mean there will be web2 no more or that web2 will go bankrupt, like he said, they sure will have other sources of monetization and it's more about adoption, just like Bitcoin compared to Fiat, it's not a competition but more of adoption. At least Bitcoin is being adopted by some countries.
Get it?
That aside, even still some of the rich guys out there, ain't a fan of web3, recently, Jack Dorsey former Twitter CEO took to his Twitter and tweeted, “You don’t own ‘web 3.0’. The VCs and their LPs do. It will never escape their incentives. It’s ultimately a centralized entity with a different label. Know what you’re getting into…” according to him, he thinks web3 is still centralized but with a different label,
I guess it's either he hasn't really gotten the concept of web3 or maybe he is not just a fan of the decentralized internet - web3
Even Elon Musk, in an interview with the Babylon Bee, said that he still can't wrap his head around Web 3.0. In fact, according to him, Web 3.0 is not real and seems to be just a “marketing buzzword” with no real establishment.
Maybe they are right, maybe they are not, time will tell, although they're not the only people being skeptical on web3, some other rich guys are also not a fan of this new decentralized internet.
But that doesn't mean web3 is a scam or that it isn't going to be successful, because while some big tech companies and big rich guys are being doubtful about web3, some other big tech companies, and big rich guys have already started experimenting their way into web3 projects too, in fact, while writing this article over $30billion have already been invested in this new decentralized web - web3
So, referring back to the question, is web3 going to be successful? My answer is, We can't say yet, I guess time will tell.
Till then,
There you have it!
All you need to know about web3.0, the pronounced new generation, the internet of the future.
Author Bio
Samuel Edyme is a freelance content writer for hire, he writes blockchain technology & technical content for blogs,websites, and newsletters. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn or Twitter
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