Evan Harmon - Memex

Web3

Web3 is an idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web which incorporates concepts such as decentralization, blockchain technologies, and token-based economics. Some technologists and journalists have contrasted it with Web 2.0, wherein they say data and content are centralized in a small group of companies sometimes referred to as "Big Tech". The term "Web3" was coined in 2014 by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, and the idea gained interest in 2021 from cryptocurrency enthusiasts, large technology companies, and venture capital firms. The concepts of Web3 were first represented in 2013.
wikipedia:: Web3

Somewhat of a backlash to the big tech concentration and centralization in Social media sites and their capitalistic goals vs Web 2.0's more Egalitarian and user-centered emphasis.

Web
Web 2.0
Web3 is different than Tim Berners-Lee's Semantic web concept.

Issues

  • Environmental Science, Climate Change issues
  • Issues with people being able to avoid taxes
  • Issues with large initial Economic Inequality from a few users who have high proportion of wealth in a given cryptocurrency
  • Issues with scams, hacking, fraud, theft, trust, etc, despite the promise/idea of the benefit of getting away from big scary governments - the nature of the system essentially makes it impossible to redress concerns and recover from fraudulent activity.
  • Issues in practicality - often the speed, cost, complexity of transactions are so large you need non-web3/blockchain intermediaries, networks, exchanges, etc. which 1) often defeats the purpose of the original idea and 2) provides avenue to hacking, fraud, etc.
  • Confusion between use of currency vs speculative investment
Web3
Interactive graph
On this page
Web3
Issues