Does Web3 matter?
Tags: blockchain, web3
Published: 2022-03-08 09:58:24

The internet as we know it today has seen a lot of changes, from its earliest forms (ARPANET) to what we see today. The initial iteration of the internet focused on consuming content. Most users of the internet in its early days were consumers of content (static content) and most often set up their own servers.

The second iteration (web 2.0) improved on the internet, contents became more interactive and the burden of maintaining the tech infrastructure needed for the internet was taken up by some institutions removing the entry barrier for businesses, corporations and users alike. These new platforms became so big that everything started running through them and they started growing increasingly more powerful thereby dictating the governance of the internet. Alongside the increased centralization, a new business model came to the be, the Business of Data, these platforms mined data from their users and sold to marketing agencies. Privacy of users became an afterthought.
A new internet frontier is on the horizon, one that promises users ownership of their data and gives power back to the users. This latest iteration of the web aims to use Blockchain Technology as its base to build out a less centralised internet.
Below, I will try to outline some key differences between the internet today (web 2.0) and the ideas behind web 3.0:

- Most of the compute on the internet is controlled by big tech companies who manage the underlying tech infrastructure needed to run the internet. This monopoly is less prevalent in web 3.0. Ideally, any user can set up a node and participate in network governance.

- The monopoly of infrastructure concentrated users' data at these Big corporations. Web 3.0 is built on technology that ensures pseudo anonymity of users and therefore better privacy.

- The decentralised nature of application/protocols built on web 3 platforms makes it harder to upgrade and are known to have scalability issues. Arguments are that in its current state, the tech stack on which web 3 is being built on is not yet ready to absorb the number of users the traditional internet has.

- The underlying philosophy of web 3 applications is to provide users access to the internet economy in a permissionless and trustless environment. This means anyone from any part of the world can take part in this. This attribute of web 3 not only makes it more inclusive, but also more censorship resistant.

This is a fairly new technology and for it to scale to accommodate the massive users on the internet today, certain areas still need to be improved. The technical barrier of entry to the web 3 economy is what the team at [Nestcoin](https://nestcoin.com/) has noticed and have decided to narrow; By introducing a new program - [Blockgames](https://blockgames.gg/) - they aim to equip developers as well as traditional internet users with the knowledge and tools to help usher in the next iteration of the internet. They have partnered with a team with a proven track record of churning out world class Tech Talents in the [ZuriTeam](https://zuri.team/). Through Blockgames, we are doing our own share of work to help usher in the next Billion users into the web 3.0 economy.