As businesses and people we have become reliant on the internet for almost everything. As technology evolves it also upgrades! Web3 is all about the next evolution of the Internet and designed for businesses and people to get more out of their websites than ever before.
WHAT IS WEB3
First, what is Web3? Web3 is an idea for a new iteration of the internet based on blockchain. Web3 integrates concepts such as decentralization and token-based economics. Web3 is all about decentralization and aims to give users more control over their data.
Let’s talk about what that actually looks like. In a Web3 world, information is stored in something called virtual digital wallets, not data centers. Individuals or businesses can use these wallets to tap into Web3 applications (called dApps) which run on blockchain technology. This simple technology allows users to disconnect from any application simply when they log off. Logging off will allow them to disconnect their wallet and take all of their data with them, no longer captured by any other organization.
Web3 is a new generation of the internet that runs on public blockchains. Blockchain is a record-keeping technology that is spread out on a network of nodes. Blockchain’s main superpower is that it allows decentralization; power decentralation in data networks.
Because of this feature, Web3’s central idea and promise are that it will make the internet decentralized.
This means that users can own pieces of the internet they use without the need for centralized authorities like Facebook and Twitter to allow access, govern and own user data or demand fees for premium services.
The new technology of Web3 is incorporating features such as smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) on blockchain. It changes how we access information and decentralizes the internet to create a web where the user has control over their own data. The new version of the web will have amazing benefits for businesses and users. Let’s discuss.
BUSINESS BENEFITS OF WEB3
Businesses can use Web3 to integrate their products with blockchain by automating operations and gathering real world data about market customer trends. Businesses can now improve their processes by focusing on the most profitable matters to increase revenues.
Web3 allows businesses to maintain a transaction ledger for all the parties involved. This ledger technology allows companies to create and manage their supply chains through automated smart contracts. Let’s look at an example:
For this example we will use a hotel. To streamline business operations the hotel can have all the information about bookings, guests, and invoices available all in real time, and this ledger will store the transaction details of every guest that has ever stayed at your hotel. Web3 technologies will allow the hotel to provide personalized services for each user based on their previous purchases and preferences.
The business is now conducting its business on the blockchain using smart contracts and decentralized applications so there is no need to involve any third party service providers. This allows businesses to reduce costs and remain competitive, using resources for growth. Web3 technology will allow for every business to take control over in house operations and allow them to interact directly with customers without external interference.
BOTTOM LINE
Web3 platforms will give businesses, organizations, creators and users a way to monetize their activity and contributions in a way that today’s mega-platforms really don’t.
READ: The Original Sin of the Internet
Today, for example, Facebook makes money by aggregating user data and selling targeted ads. A Web3 version of Facebook could allow users to monetize their own data, or even earn crypto “tips” from other users for posting interesting content. A Web3 Spotify could allow fans to buy “stakes” in up-and-coming artists, effectively becoming their patrons in exchange for a percentage of their streaming royalties. A Web3 Uber could be owned by the drivers on the network.
Matt Levine, a Bloomberg columnist, put it this way: “A basic premise of Web3 is that every product is simultaneously an investment opportunity.”
Secondly, Web3 platforms could be democratically governed in a way that web2 platforms can’t. This leads us into a whole other Web3 conversation regarding governance platforms. We shall save that for another article.
Internet behemoths like Facebook and Twitter are essentially autocracies. They can unilaterally seize user accounts and ban accounts or change their rules on a whim. A blockchain-based social network could delegate those decisions to users, who could vote on how to handle them through governance tokens.
Thirdly, Web3 platforms would be less reliant on advertising-based business models than Web 2.0 and people would have more privacy as a result, with fewer trackers and targeted ads following them around and fewer giant companies vacuuming up their personal data.
