Web 3.0: Message to Those Lost In the Web. Part 1

The last time you dived headlong into the World Wide Web, you probably did so without as much as thinking about it. It has become natural for us: we are always online, our smartphones stay connected to the web, as do the computers we work on, our smart TVs, etc. And soon, the immersion may grow even deeper. The world is transitioning to Web 3.0, though we are still mostly unaware of it.

When we try to explain the essence of blockchain and cryptocurrencies to someone, we talk about things like decentralization or a distributed ledger. However, it seems like we ourselves cannot fully comprehend that humanity has already begun the shift to a new “evolutionary step” of the Internet in the form of Web 3.0.

It is something Coinbase analysts spoke about in their ten predictions for 2022. In particular, they mentioned the most “advanced” Web 2.0 businesses switching to Web 3.0. One of the most notable examples was Facebook’s attempt to transform itself into a Web 3.0 company with its Meta rebranding. Only, when it comes down to it, the transition will be somewhat different from what Mark Zuckerberg had envisioned.

Initially, NFT-based communities are going to become a major competitor to Web 2.0 social networks. NFTs will be the next stage in digital user identification – a kind of “pass” to the metaverse. Social networks, in turn, will eventually get replaced by user-created metaverses.

Large businesses will actively engage in it right away as well. Coca-Cola, Campbell’s, Dolce & Gabbana, McDonald’s, Victoria’s Secret, and Charmin all released NFT collectibles back in 2021. Adidas has gone one step further and recently launched a new metaverse project with Bored Ape Yacht Club.

In keeping with the trend, YouTube has posted a job opening for a Web 3.0 Product Manager position. It says the company is looking for someone to “define and bring to life the vision, strategy, and roadmap for Web 3.0 on YouTube”. The specialist must have 15 years of experience in product management, consumer Internet products and/or cryptography. The position also requires “an understanding of cryptocurrencies, blockchain, consensus mechanisms, NFTs, and other Web3 technologies”. Overall, the direction for further development is described in great detail.

Still, the process of across-the-board transition to Web 3.0 unfolding before our very eyes has its own unique features and pitfalls. The foremost problem here is not fully understanding what the “third installation of the Internet” is, how it works, and its potential effects on our lives. Let’s try to get down to it, starting with the basics.

Web 3.0 is a concept introduced by Jason Kalkanis, CEO of Netscape. It implies moving away from centralized management of Internet services in favor of users and machines bypassing third-party intermediaries to directly interact with information online.

For the concept to be fully established (to the same extent Web 2.0 is today), the Web must learn to understand information not only according to philological canons but also contextually. And since algorithms are still struggling to grasp the semantic relationships between words, the Internet of the future will rely on three “pillars”:

– blockchain;

– semantics;

– artificial intelligence (AI).

Keep in mind that Web 1.0 was implemented over the period of1989 to 2005. At that initial stage, the Internet was just a vast library, a fairly convenient data repository. The websites were static, and the content was created by qualified specialists, while users could only view it and perhaps leave comments. Interactive communication was reduced to forums and chats. Over time, though, the web got more and more functionality, becoming increasingly reciprocal.

Web 2.0 (aka Social Web) has been in place from 2005 to the present day. The development of network technologies (HTML5, Javascript, CSS3) has allowed for the introduction of interactive online applications and websites. It was then that the first social networks got established and began their rapid and manifold growth. At this point, users got the opportunity to create their own content and post it over multiple platforms and services. Now, they could not only read articles but also to write them, bringing forth an era of personal blogs and independent media. As a result, states and corporations began losing control over information as the Internet was strengthening its influence on the real world.

Of course, the flip side was censorship by platform owners, who could at any point remove the content and block the author. Moreover, those outwardly free services collected massive amounts of personal information and sold it to advertisers, using someone else’s data to ultimately increase the market value of Big Tech.

While infiltrating every aspect of our lives, the Internet also got centralized to the point where almost all user-generated content was concentrated on a few sites owned by large corporations like Facebook or Google.

They were the ones with complete control over moderation and monetization of user’s input. In addition to income, managing the information people consume gained corporations more and more political influence.

Not to despair, the end of Web 2.0 has already been onset by blockchain triumphantly entering the scene arm in arm with cryptocurrencies.

To be continued…