At the dawn of the internet, in the mid-nineties, people were blown away by the new technology. Message boards, chat rooms, and file-sharing services dominated the space. Eventually, this was called web 1.0. Then, with the advent of social media in the mid-2000s, the internet reached a new level of interconnectivity. The was a shift to user-generated content like never before. For better or worse, anyone could create and share anything, at any time. This became known as web 2.0. Now, with the popularization of blockchain technology, we are approaching a new age; Internet 3.0. But what is web 3.0?
A whole new world of possibilities
One of the key appeals of blockchain technology is decentralization. This simply means no single entity can control or govern it. This impacts the internet in a few ways, Firstly, complete transparency in everything, at all times. No more hiding behind a “delete Tweet” button. Blockchain technology chronologically stores every interaction and transaction in a ledger that anyone can see.
Secondly, it takes a sledgehammer to the proverbial throne of companies like Meta and Google. It’ll put massive databases of information on users, in the hands of users. Theoretically, the two tech titans won’t have a chokehold on your data anymore.
What’s the catch?
You know how misinformation, hate speech, and cybercrime run wild on the internet like Hulk Hogan? Well, with decentralization, comes (even more) limited authority to prevent these things. Because data will essentially exist everywhere, it can be traced nowhere. It’ll be nearly impossible for countries to apply sanctions and laws on something that doesn’t exactly exist in that country.
For example, right now, if cybercrime occurs on a website hosted in the United States, the US government can intervene. But what if that website was hosted on servers across the entire globe?
What does this mean for us?
Web 3.0, internet 3.0, or whatever you want to call it, could usher in a new era of globalization like never before. Web 2.0 brought people together for better or for worse with the advent of social media and user-generated content. Now, optimistically, we could see those users come together and redistribute control of the internet through decentralization. Pessimistically, it could get really, really messy and chaotic. Web 3.0 could completely change the way the world interacts with each other all over again. But only time will tell.
