What is Web3?

Here's what I found:

In short, it's a decentralized version of just about everything.

People are excited because, in theory, it moves power from the big tech companies (i.e. Google, Facebook, etc.) to the individual users.

This whole new era is possible because of trust.

Specifically, the idea that trust can be set by code.

Why does this matter?

Currently, trust is created by "middlemen" who take a cut of every transaction.

For example:

- Lawyers sit between entities to create contracts

- Social networks sit between content creators and consumers.

- Banks sit between people and companies transferring money.

If trust can be set by code, then you don't need any of those middlemen! On top of that, it enables those using the system to truly own the system.

It's a big idea, that's why people are excited!

So, where does the name "Web3" come from?

The simplest explanation I've seen comes from an article by Eshita:

• Web1: Read
• Web2: Read, write
• Web3: Read, write, own

All right, maybe that's a bit too simple. Here's a bit longer explanation of each one.

Web 1: Read-only

The majority of users since its inception and through the 90's were consumers reading content on static pages. The content was produced mainly by professionals involved in the print world - think journalists, writers, etc. - and continued the few-to-many paradigm of the print world so the internet was "read-only" for most people.

Web 2: Read-Write

This is the internet we know today, which took over in the early 2000's. As servers got cheaper and internet speeds got faster, then the web got more interactive and a whole lot friendlier. This allowed consumers to create their own content and moved the web to it's second stage where people not only consumed content, but also created it. Think of all the user searches, tweets, and posts that people put on Google, Twitter, and Facebook, respectively. All three are examples of middlemen that make money off of other people's content by selling advertising to and/or the data of it's users.

Web 3: Read-Write-Own

Looks similar to Web2 at first glance, but adds in decentralization and "ownership" on top of people creating and consuming what lives on the web. Think about that, what if you got to own a piece of Facebook every time you posted a picture or liked someone else's? What if the whole internet was owned by the people using it instead of big tech companies? That's the promise of Web3 and why so many people are excited by it and the ownership tokens it creates.

How can people "own" the web via tokens?

Tokens are simply a record of ownership.

They come in two flavors: fungible and non-fungible

- Fungible tokens are interchangeable - similar to a U.S. dollar

- Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are each unique

As an example, in the world that we live in people are currently trading Bitcoin and Etherium, two fungible tokens, in ways very similar to how most of society trades U.S. dollars. Similarly, unique NFTs are being digitally created and sold every day right now - just like unique pieces of physical art are created and sold in a shop.??

All this is possible because of a technology referred to as "blockchain", which is what my next article will be about.

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Next article: What is Blockchain