There is a new tech term in town, and it is not the metaverse! It is Web3 or Web 3.0, the internet’s development as anticipated by blockchain enthusiasts, the technology underlying ecologically harmful cryptocurrencies, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). The concept itself appears to be a natural evolution from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 to whatever comes after.
The internet was controlled by a few significant content developers until the early 2000s, and most users were mainly consumers. With Web 2.0, however, more users become content creators, and the industry’s major companies provided a platform for such content to share.
The next phase would be Web3. Users are not only content providers, but they also control the platforms via which the material is spread. Social media networks and search engines with no corporation behind them will replace centralized institutions like Facebook, Twitter, and Google.
“There’s a small group of companies that own everything, and then there’s us who use it, and despite the fact that we contribute to the success of these platforms, we have nothing to show for it,” Mat Dryhurst, a Berlin-based artist and researcher who teaches classes on the future of the internet at New York University, told NPR last month.
Many individuals are intrigued by the notion, especially in light of social media firms’ actions regarding privacy, disinformation, and a general disdain for their users’ mental health. However, despite the excellent intentions of the vision’s proponents, the result may not be what they hoped. Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has stated on social media that people would not control this future internet.
He said that venture capitalists had already put money into the technology and will be in charge. “‘web3.’ is not yours.” “It’s the VCs and their LPs who do it.” Their motivations will never let them down. On December 21, Dorsey tweeted, “It’s ultimately a centralized organization with a new title.” “Be aware of what you’re putting yourself into.”
This has undoubtedly generated a stir among Web3 supporters and proponents. Another ruckus erupted when Elon Musk resorted to Twitter obliquely exploring the internet’s uncertain future, we are looking decades into the future, so there is a lot that is unknown, but Web3 is now “more marketing jargon than reality,” according to Musk.
