No, Web3 Won't Change the Internet.
It's no secret cryptocurrency, NFTs, and other blockchain-related products have blown up recently. It's been all over the news, from the fall of FTX, to NFTs selling for millions of dollars only to crash in value. But one thing remains constant. Every-time a new blockchain based product comes out, it seems that we are hearing how revolutionary it is and how it will be the future of the Web as we know it and help shape a better "Web3.0".
What's Web3?
To understand what Web3 is, you first have to understand what Web1.0 and Web2.0 are. Web1.0 was the first iteration of the web. Web1.0 contained mostly static websites that you could view digitally. This is why Web1.0 is known as a "read only" model. Web2.0 was the next version of the Web, and the version of the Web used today. Web2.0 brought interactivity to websites, meaning that not only could you view a website, you could also comment on websites and post on social media. This is known as a "read-write" web.
Ethereum.org - What is Web3?:
"As more people came online [Web2], a handful of top companies began to control a disproportionate amount of the traffic and value generated on the web. Web 2.0 also birthed the advertising-driven revenue model. While users could create content, they didn't own it or benefit from its monetization."
Web3.0 is a concept for the next version of the web based on the idea that blockchains, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and other technology will give the power of the web to the users. It's supposed to be a trustless system that will give more power to users and creators alike. A "read-write-own" model.
The underlying technology behind this is blockchain. Blockchain is effectively a giant spreadsheet with all transactions ever to have happened shared across everyone on the blockchain. This ensures no one can tamper with the history, since it would have to align with everyone else's copy of the blockchain data. This is a gross simplification of course, but long story short, it's incredibly secure.
The Problem with Web3
There are some problems with Web3 though. Beginning with that the idea of Web3 is very vague.
This "vision" for a better future web has no clear path of how to achieve the future in question.
Also, important aspects of Web3, such as cryptocurrency and especially NFTs, don't produce anything of material value. There is almost no good use for NFTs, as they don't really let you own an image or other file (you know, the revolutionary thing they are meant to do). With cryptocurrency, it's riddled with scams and pump-and-dump schemes, and is mostly advertised as an investment. But don't let the ads fool you, because most people will lose money on crypto, as it's basically a giant experiment in the "greater fool" theory of investment, which suggests that people can make money through buying overvalued assets by later selling those assets at a higher price to a "greater fool". I think this is getting close to scam territory, personally.
Also, another reason the idea of Web3 exists is because too much of the web is centralized around a handful of companies. While this is true, it's not like you have to bow down to these companies and do what they say in order to have a voice on the internet. Anyone can create a website for anyone else to use for fairly cheap nowadays. If you want a social media platform free from the influence of corporate giants, you can use Mastodon and other open social media platforms. Web3 doesn't need to fix the issue of centralization, as the technology of Web2.0 is just the right amount of centralized while maintaining the openness of the internet. If we really want to solve the issue of centralization on the web, we should get more people to use services like Mastodon and start their own websites and blogs. There's no need for a giant redesign of the whole world wide web.
Conclusion
In my personal opinion, the idea of "Web3" is mostly a marketing gimmick designed to get you to buy into Cryptocurrency and/or NFTs of some sort, so that whoever is advertising it to you can make a profit. With this said, Web3 isn't completely a bust. Blockchain, the technology powering most of Web3's ideas, is a very promising technology with lots of interesting use cases. Because of this, we should expect blockchain technology to show up in more and more places and industries. While the current technology built upon blockchain is not to be desired, the underlying technology is no doubt incredibly useful.
