May 19•9 min read

What is Web3?

Centralization helped onboard billions of people to the World Wide Web and created the stable, predictable, robust infrastructure on which it lives. But at the same time, those handful of centralized entities, (you know who I am talking about - the same 5 websites/apps you always use) unilaterally decided what you can and cannot do on the internet. And worse turned you into a product they could sell to advertisers.

Cartoon by Rahma Cartoons

Web3 could be the answer we, the users of the internet, have been looking for. Instead of a few key monopolized tech corporations holding the power, web3 offers decentralization and is being built, operated and owned by the users.

In short web3 puts the power back in the hands of the users.

The Early Web

We think of the internet as a pillar of modern life. However the evolution of the web has been quite complex. To help understand it is helpful to break down the Web’s short history into loose periods – Web1 & Web2.

Web1: Read only Websites
Web2: Read and Write: User-generated content
Web3: Read, Write & Own: The Blockchain and restoring ownership to the users.

Now we are living in a Web3 world. But to understand what that means we gotta look at what Web1 & Web2 looked like and where we went wrong.

Web1: Read only Websites (1990-2004)

Really the formation of the Internet as we know it started at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) by Tim Berners-Lee who created the first HTTP protocol. HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). HTTP allows users to retrieve HTML(HyperText markup Language) documents from the server.

In layman's terms: I could create a page with HTML and then HTTP allows me to find it on the server. (think a search bar when you are searching for a file on your computer)

This was the wild wild west. Anyone with the skills could now create a website. Users of the internet now had the ability to ‘surf’ from site to site reading all the things. This was decentralization to the max.

The more eyes a website had the more potential money a website could make. This created the DotCom Boom & Bubble. With tons of venture capital money flowing into the space the valuation of these companies skyrocketed. However these internet companies were burning through the venture capital money so fast trying to get as many eyeballs as possible to their website.

The companies that did survive the bubble bursting were focused on providing a service to the users. Several household names that were born in this era of the internet: Google & Amazon being two of the main ones. Amazon sold books online & Google was a search engine.

Web2: Read and Write: User-generated content (2004-Now)

As the internet activity grew so did the innovations around the technology. No longer was the internet just for produced content. The internet had become a two way street. Now users could produce their own content and collaborate to make the content better.

This is where we get things like Google Maps, Facebook, & Reddit.

Now the internet was truly a place where anyone could use the tools at their disposal to create content, post it on platforms, & attract an audience. Whether that be Reviews on Google Maps, Facebook Groups, or creating a Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Billions of dollars were made as the internet slowly became controlled by a handful of companies. Facebook, Netflix, Google, Twitter, TikTok, Spotify, the list goes on and on.

Millions & billions of users were creating content on the internet for the internet. Whole new economies were created as people around the world found their voice.

However, the tech giants were doing more than allowing users of the internet to make money creating content on their platforms. These tech behemoths were getting rich off their users by selling users data to advertisers

In the 21st century consumer data is now worth more than oil. And we as users graciously handed over all of our data to these Web2 giants. Our phones listen to us talk about certain things, and then display ads on our favorite social media apps for those things.

Not to mention most of the revenue created by the users via content remained in the hands of the platform.

The Apple Store took 30% of the profits for any app.
Only 28% of Artists using Spotify made $10,000 last year.
& on TikTok for every million views you make $40.

What started out as fun social networking became a way for these companies to exploit our every move on the internet for their profit.

Over a span of 10 years, companies like Facebook went from fun to corporate overlords.

Web3: Read, Write & Own: The Blockchain and restoring ownership to the users. (2014 - Beyond)

The creation of Bitcoin in 2009 changed the world.

There was now a way for the whole world to see an open automatic ledger that recorded every transaction. Bitcoin was not bound by any government, corporation, or individual. Bitcoin was mined by computers all over the world which were unlocking puzzles to release more Bitcoin. Bitcoin was the world's first decentralized crypto currency and became the ‘gold’ standard for all crypto currencies to come.

The creation of Ethereum in 2014 also changed the world. Bitcoin did one thing and one thing well. It was a ledger system accounting for all transactions on the blockchain. Ethereum used a similar model but now allowed for mining, accounting, and programming to happen on the blockchain.

The addition of programming and the creation of smart contracts allowed for digital ownership in a big way. Now tokens can have unique identities, do different things, and can become non-fungible. There are now a dozen+ blockchain systems running in this way.

With this blockchain technology we can now verify 2 specific things that we couldn’t know before.

We now know where something made on the internet originated from.
We now know who holds that item, and how many hands it has passed through.

Which means for the first time on the internet individuals can own a digital asset on the internet.

Why is Web3 Important?

Web3 brings ownership to users.

Now instead of creating content on the big platforms with the hope of getting paid or selling our own ads to cover costs. Creators now can create content and sell it directly to the users.

There is no need for big centralized middle men to reach a community. Blockchain technology allows the users to own their data again.

In Web1 we signed into websites with our email. Web2 we signed up for applications with our Facebook & now in Web3 we sign in with our Wallet.

Our Wallet holds all of our Digital Assets we own, verifiable on the blockchain.

This means when we want to sign out of a website or application, we take all of our assets with us. We can own our data again.

Ownership

For example, say you are playing a web2 game and you buy in-game items. Once you stop playing the game, you lose the value you invested in those in-game items. With Web3 you now have direct ownership through non-fungible tokens (NFTs). No one, not even the game's creators has the ability to take away your ownership. This means when you are done with the game you can sell those in-game items to the next person who wants to play.

With Web 2.0 content creators are at the behest of the platforms - the platform could change the rules anytime they wanted (I’m looking at you Instagram) and it would completely change a users experience and at times these changes affected creators livelihoods.

On Web3, your data lives on the blockchain. When you decide to leave a platform, you can take your reputation with you, plugging it into another interface that more clearly aligns with your values. So if you have a Web3 community who you know their wallet address - you can take them with you as well.

Native payments

Because Web3 is built on top of Cypto currencies that means all payments can be done natively. No need to put in your credit card information or deal with banks or payment processors. With web3 you can use tokens like $ETH, $STX, $NEAR, and many more to send money directly in the browser and does not require a trusted third party.

Digital Identity

With Web2, you would create an account for every platform you use. For example, you might have a Twitter account, a YouTube account, and a Reddit account. Want to change your display name or profile picture? You have to do it across every account. You can use social sign-ins in some cases, but this presents a familiar problem—censorship.

In a single click, these platforms can lock you out of your entire online life. Even worse, many platforms require you to trust them with personally identifiable information to create an account.

Web3 solves these problems by allowing you to control your digital identity with a wallet address and ENS/BTC profile. Using a wallet address provides a single login across platforms that is secure, censorship-resistant, and anonymous.

Web3 is a young and evolving ecosystem. In the last year alone, there has been a considerable surge in the interest in cryptocurrency, improvements to layer 2 scaling solutions, massive experiments with new forms of governance, and revolutions in digital identity.

We are only at the beginning of creating a better Web with Web3, but as we continue to improve the infrastructure that will support it, the future of the Web looks bright.

If you are interested in learning more about Web3 or NFTs join the AIRDROP CREW to learn with a bunch of people also looking how to use this technology for their creative careers, businesses, and lives.

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