People are talking about Web3. Is it the Internet of the future or just a buzzword?

npr.org

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Technology & The Future

Cryptocurrency

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Introduction to Web 3.0

The differences between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0

The future of the internet

Understanding the potential of Web 3.0

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Introduction to Web 3.0

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The Web Version 3

Web 3.0 is an iteration of the internet where new social networks, search engines and marketplaces crop up that have no company overlords.

Instead, they are decentralized, built upon a system known as the blockchain, which already undergirds Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Imagine it as a kind of bookkeeping where many computers at once host data that's searchable by anyone. It's operated by users collectively, rather than a corporation. People are given "tokens" for participating. The tokens can be used to vote on decisions, and even accrue real value.

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The World Is Changing In Front Of Our Eyes

Right now, the idea of the entire Internet reinventing may sound like some far-away digital utopia. But Web3 is driving new conversations — and generating lots of new money, particularly from crypto investors.

The Web3 movement has been helped along by the rise of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, which are digital collectables and other online files that can be bought and sold with cryptocurrency.

Trying to explain Web3 can be exasperating since it's a term that takes on a slightly different shape depending on who is defining it but that's the case with all new frontiers of technology.

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A Theoretical Grand Vision

Web3 has remained a theoretical grand vision for years.

Ideally, Web3 will mean that sharing photos, communicating with friends and buying things online will no longer be synonymous with Big Tech companies but be done through a multitude of small competing services on the blockchain — where, for instance, every time you post a message, you earn a token for your contribution, giving you both ownership stake in the platform and one day, a way to cash in.

It means that all the value that's created can be shared amongst more people, rather than just the owners, investors and employees.

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An Unchained Future

Blockchain-based social networks, transactions and businesses can and will grow and thrive in the coming years. Yet knocking out Facebook, Twitter or Google completely is not likely on the horizon, according to technology scholars.

Many people would want to be able to take their data and history of interactions online wherever they go on the Internet, rather than remain on singular web platforms--what some call the "walled gardens" of big tech companies.

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The Pirates Of The Internet

If we stay in the current paradigm, we will move further and further into a realm where a small handful of companies run by a small number of people run our experiences in cyberspace, and in that world, the problems of Big Tech are exacerbated.

Another issue, of course, is government oversight. Blockchain-based tokens are now in a regulatory netherworld, but that could soon change as the Biden administration begins the process of setting new rules for the industry.

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Web 3.0 And Metaverse

Facebook recently rebranded itself Meta, and said its priority would be to build the "metaverse," a digital future where everyone is living and interacting and working together in virtual reality.

Among the company's stated principles is "robust interoperability," meaning that users could take their accounts or avatars from site to site or service to service seamlessly, rather than have to log in to accounts controlled by separate companies every time they visit new sites.

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