Web3 has become a prevalent term that's been used to describe the advent of a new era of the Internet. The ground-breaking technology of blockchain has opened up the potential for a fundamentally different internet and user experience. The term web3 comes from an overview of the main evolutions the Internet has undergone. Decades from now we will look back at our current social media platforms and web-based experience as compared to how we currently view the early versions of Internet browsers like Netscape. Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are paving the way toward a new crypto-enabled creator economy and a totally different online experience.

And we’re still in the very early days.

Now to understand why everyone is so excited about the possibilities ahead, it's important to provide an overview of the previous eras of the internet - and where the future is taking us! Bear with me as we explore the previous 2 generations of the Internet, and finally where all this is going.

Web1: Read-Only (1980-2000)

If you were born in the '90s then you most likely didn't experience much of the initial 'read-only' internet. It consisted mostly of static pages that were glorified brochures and informational documents. Journalists, reporters, and writers saw an opening to reach internet users en-masse, however, most users of the early internet were not creating content. They were consuming non-interactive web pages and had very limited experiences available to them.

There was minimal censorship on this new medium. Issues arose concerning the level of censorship that was appropriate and arguments were fought for the right to free speech.

Web2: Read-Write (2000-today)

In the early 2000s, different scripting languages were invented that allowed for more interactivity with web pages. Faster internet and better hardware led to more and more applications being developed - inarguably the most successful being social networks. By 2010 there was approx. 980million users and by 2021, 4.5billion.

The key distinction between web1 and web2 is the ability of users to create content and subsequently generate a lot of value for fellow users - and a lot of money for the platform on which they create. Now some of the ad revenue generated by platforms such as Youtube does filter its way down to the creator, incentivizing content creators to make better and more engaging content to bring more users onto the platform. Other platforms don't give anything to the users and instead gather data that is then used for effective personalized advertising. This will be known as the era of data-extraction-for-profit. Companies like Facebook have led the charge and set the standard business model for free online platforms, gathering endless data from their users and selling it to advertisers.

The network effects produced by these massive social networks make it a winner takes all situation. Once you're into the platform you develop a friends list and make connections with other users, all the while solidifying the hold that the network has on you. Now even if you disagree with the ethics of data-gathering, who is going to leave Facebook for a competitor - everybody we want to talk to is on the platform! This applies to every successful network that has been built during the web2 era. The platform owns you and won't let you take your network of friends and followers over to a competitor's platform - you'd have to start from scratch.

Although the users are both creators and consumers of the content on these platforms, we are totally at the mercy of whatever platform we use. Censorship can occur and accounts can be banned at the whim of a tech millionaire.

Web3: Read-Write-Own

This is where it gets exciting. The next era of the internet promises actual ownership: of the content we produce, the network of friends we develop, the revenue generated by our content.

Everything. No longer will we be forced to interact and transact with one another through a middleman who steals your data for profit - we can own everything we produce and users can have a say in how the platforms are operated. Generally, web3 features include some or most of the following: decentralized, trustless, permissionless, immutable, and censorship-resistant.

Being decentralized means no central data center or server that is responsible for keeping the network operating. Because there's no central data center or server that is responsible, this means there is no one to censor the material being published. It becomes immutable because many nodes (computers running the network) are running the decentralized site or application, and for something in the past to be edited, you would need a majority of the nodes to agree on the edit - making it difficult for bad actors to maliciously change or edit things on the networks. This also gives way to the network being trustless, as you don't need to trust the platform with your data to use the service. Very different to the web2 model in which Facebook, Twitter, and Google own your login and all the information you provide to their platform - you must trust that they will keep it secure (which time and time again has proven to be less than ideal). As it is decentralized this also gives way to it being permissionless as there is no gatekeeper.

Interoperability - As this space develops, it is becoming increasingly likely that it will be an interoperable metaverse, in which you can bounce from site to site while retaining only one identity and login. You won't have to create a new username and password for everything you do on the internet - now that's the dream!

Many websites designed during the web2 era will continue to be of service, much like there are still static pages from web1. But the primary use of the internet will migrate toward the more efficient mechanisms by which the web3 internet economy will function. This is an exciting time to be alive and we can only guess as to what applications will arise from this new technology. Only time will tell.