The word web3 has become very popular over the last year, leading many people to discover this concept for the first time. It is likely that many still do not know exactly how this technology works.
Let’s change that!
First, a brief refresher on the different forms of the web that have existed.
We started web 1.0, which was a completely static web where you could only see information, that is, you entered the web but you couldn't interact with it in any way, be it an email, uploading a PDF, a photo, or anything else.
Then came web 2.0, which is the web that we currently know, whether it’s through social networks or web pages. Web 2.0 allowed for interaction. As you know, you can upload videos, and images, chat with your friends, make live videos, and so forth. With all of the good things that web 2.0 brings, it has one major drawback, data.
The data we give away to companies enable them to bombard us with ads. As some of you may already know, social networks like Instagram, Twitter, Tik-Tok, and others are not free, we pay indirectly by providing our data.
And finally, web3 or web 3.0 technology has appeared, the next Internet revolution.
Let’s get into it.
What is web3?
Web3 is a new type of internet service built using blockchain technology, that is, it remains decentralized by using registries that rely on cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum.
We can simply define web3 as an internet that is owned by developers and users, and coordinated with tokens.
Today web3 is something that is quite “small” compared to the things that can be done in the future. Web3 can take all kinds of forms, such as decentralized social networks where a centralized organization cannot have direct access to your data, play-to-earn video games that reward players with tokens and cryptocurrencies, and NFT platforms that allow people to buy and sell digital art, etc.
The growth of this technology has been exponential during the last year. To give you an idea, in 2021 venture capital firms invested more than $27 billion in projects related to cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and other types of crypto assets.
Without going any further, Twitter and Instagram have already begun to implement brushstrokes of this technology, since, as many of you know, they have implemented a function that allows their users to show their NFTs. On Twitter, you can put your NFTs as a profile picture and on Instagram, some users have already been able to upload their own NFTs to their feed.
Benefits of Web3 technology
One of the goals of web3 technology is to tip the scales and grant more privileges and power to the community so that large companies and corporations are not the only agents that have absolute control of internet platforms.
Another benefit that can be applied to the technology (and is already being done) is the ability to monetize your data. As we have mentioned before, in web2 technology we are giving away our data, with web3 technology, on the other hand, we will be able to monetize our own data, for example in the form of cryptocurrencies.
This is already being done with the Brave browser, one of the first web3 browsers, in which you can activate the option to share your data in exchange for receiving cryptocurrencies, in this case, the cryptocurrency of the Brave platform.
Another positive aspect is that web3 platforms can be governed democratically in a way that web2 platforms are not. Thanks to smart contracts, orders can be programmed so that the community has some power in making decisions on a web page.
It could also be possible to decentralize the data of a web page, that is, that they are in the blockchain and are impossible to knock down and hack, which would help avoid a lot of pitfalls.
Although this is somewhat more utopian and may be more difficult to achieve.
Negative aspects and some criticisms that this technology has received
As expected and like everything in this life, web3 technology is not all roses, it has certain negative aspects and has received some criticism from important personalities.
One of the negative aspects of the current blockchains that exist is that they are somewhat slow compared to other types of technologies and web2 databases. This is something to consider since one of the big problems with the Ethereum blockchain network is that the network collapses considerably quickly and causes the gas-fee costs to rise quite a bit. It is an aspect that needs to be worked on a lot for the future of web3.
Another negative aspect is the ability of cybercriminals to get away with some scams. As you can see, decentralization also has some other handicaps, since it can be quite difficult to identify someone who has committed a cybercrime on the blockchain. This should be worked out in a way that hackers can be tracked down effectively.
One of the main criticisms that web3 has received is around the world of play-to-earn since some are not convinced by the idea that you have to pay within the game to obtain characters that are stronger than others. This is already a more controversial topic in which everyone has their opinion.
It is obvious that solutions to certain aspects of the technology still have to be found, but we certainly believe that it will be perfected.