index

Web3

web3 is a concept referring to some kind of ideological future where the internet predominantly consists of services that sit atop blockchain technology, prioritising decentralisation of data.

I’m not quite sure where it first originated, but it seems to be referred to a lot in the Ethereum documentation, and is often heard of in many other blockchain circles. Since it is, after all, just an idea, this means its definition is quite slippery to grasp and will probably vary from person to person (and I feel that this would make it difficult to engage in productive discussion about it online).

web3 primarily seems to stand for a few things that I can see:

• a decentralised future where we don’t rely on specific corporations like Google or Microsoft to control our data
• a system where users have ownership of their data and digital assets
• an uncensorable internet where entities like Twitter or Facebook can’t control what you can say online

These things, from a conceptual standpoint at least, seem fairly nice. However, because web3 is entirely wrapped up in the world of blockchain, it is also explicitly linked to the rest of that world including the NFT hype bandwagon.

My main issue with web3 is that I don’t think blockchain is required in order for these things to exist. We can take control of our online presence using alternative services and self-hosting where applicable. As such, I don’t really support the web3 movement as it currently stands.