The Web 3.0 Revolution

A classic story of power, destruction & the revolution that always follows

Many early adopters and curious explorers have yet to dive into the world of Web 3.0, cryptocurrencies, blockchains, or NFTs. For many of us, the world feels crazy enough without bizarre 8-bit jpegs of apes, confusing slang, ugly memes, and wild fluctuations in the value of all these new assets your local “crypt bro” is always talking about. I can understand. Until 18 months ago, I was one of the people hoping to avoid it.

However, 2020 was the “straw that broke the camel's back” for me. There is a big problem and I believe the next generation of the internet can help.

Societies around the world are deteriorating at an alarming rate. You can see the symptoms of this deterioration in electoral politics (or lack thereof), popular conspiracy movements, unsustained collective interest in approaching legitimate community problems, and a widening separation in mass communications, social media discourse, and even family dinners.

Now the suffering.

In the US (where I live) and elsewhere, I see younger generations suffering from worse health, harder economic conditions, and less practical knowledge than generations before them, yet the world has never had more medical knowledge, wealth, or general information available.

Much of this can be traced to money steering powerful “information” campaigns, the structure of new communication platforms themselves (profit-centered content curators), and the general nature of wildly powerful multinational corporations.

The move towards using public blockchain technology to share power and enable users to govern powerful tools like AI infrastructure, social utilities, and financial systems is not just a technological revolution, but a sociological one as well.

People are slowly getting fed up with the current system. We can now clearly see the early stages of a new revolution forming. Yet, looking back at most revolutions, this should not be surprising. It is a tale as old as time.

The Revolving Story of Revolutions

Act 1. Extreme power is consolidated into the hands of a small group and is tolerated at first by the masses because it’s convenient or helpful. This power is misused and “regular” people suffer.

Act 2. Once enough “elite” people are sidelined by those in power, they gather a following of “regular” people who are hurting. The people, seeking an elite hero to rescue them from suffering, pledge their allegiance and follow them into battle. A revolution begins.

Act 3. The revolution struggles at first against powerful opposition. However, with more numbers, more motivation, and less to lose, they eventually succeed in overthrowing the small group in power. A new power structure is set in place to fix things.

Repeat.

You can see how this played out with our current version of the internet (Web 2.0).

Web 2.0 Revolution

Act 1. After a successful rebellion against the 500-year-old printing press and the capital required to publish new ideas, the internet (Web 1.0) offered users a way to read and buy new things in new ways. However, it was difficult for regular users to interact or publish anything publicly. With their proprietary software running on your computer (CD-ROMs in the mail), big new corporations like CompuServe (1979), AOL (1985), & Netscape (1994) were the kings of the internet.

Act 2. As internet speeds and computing power increased and legacy internet providers stagnated, brilliant software engineers begin building simple micro-blogging & other social platforms directly on the web.

Web-based projects like Friendster (2002), Myspace (2003), The Facebook (2004), Youtube (2005), & Twitter (2006) promised to connect people directly to each other and allow easy, free self-publishing of content on the web. No CD-ROMs needed! The Web 2.0 revolution is born.

I remember being on the board of Milwaukee’s Social Media Club (it sounds crazy now) and we held regular forums to teach people how to “post”, “tweet”, or “share” so friends, family, and customers could stay connected. Those were revolutionary times.

“Let the people be heard!”

Many legacy business leaders thought this was ridiculous. “I don’t wanna see what people had for lunch.” At first, it was immature, and consequently overlooked by many.

Act 3. Corporate computer scientists built advanced algorithms, machine learning, and optimized notifications to make the experience irresistible. Social media became an integrated part of our society. Companies like Facebook, Youtube, Instagram (2010), & later TikTok (2016) gained billions of users and the “social media” movement is declared victorious over legacy media. The kings of the early internet were dead.

The revolution was over.

Web 3.0 Revolution

Act 1. The platforms we hoped would set us free, turned into a nightmare.

AI & Machine Learning began to calibrate everything on their platforms to trigger profitable activity. Misinformation and anger were profitable.

The brains of our future neighbors were rewired. Information was curated by the highest bidder. Truth was censored by the noise. The Earth became flat. QAnon happened. Our leaders are now entertainers, seeking shares, likes, and gaming the algorithms designed to extract max profitability.

Aiming to explain why this was happening, the Social Dilemma came out in 2020. Unfortunately, it didn’t produce enough of a dopamine hit to keep our attention or result in sustained action. Most of us were busy watching Tiger King because of the memes or cheering for our favorite teams or politicians.

Act 2.

Despite being very immature (and it surely is), the Web 3.0 revolution is starting to provide a stronger way forward. Elite technology pioneers are building next-generation platforms and tools to make the revolution happen, and it’s now gaining momentum among those not currently benefiting from the current power structures.

Key elements:

• Emerging new technologies. Distributed computing platforms, machine learning, and artificial intelligence will usher in a new level of automation in nearly every aspect of our lives. I know this sounds crazy to many, but I personally see what is in development behind the scenes. This is happening. Imagine websites that actually understand the words you use and try to improve your experience. AI assistants for everyone are on the horizon. More of your data will be collected and used.
• User governance. Who will control the emerging tools and digital infrastructure that will further transform our lives? One of the main elements of Web 3.0 is the decentralization of control, basically democratizing core elements of the next generation of the internet. This is what early DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) seek to accomplish. Imagine voting for new algorithm changes on Facebook…or how AI technology will be used in the platforms you use every day. User governance is happening right now with projects like Juno Network, Osmosis, Stargaze, and many others. 1000’s of projects are working on it right now. Establishing new digital democracies can be difficult.

• Blockchains & other distributed ledger technologies (DLT). These are a cohesive system of records assembled and stored by different people all over the world. They record and report asset transfers, votes (see the example above), and other functions in an open and accurate way. Next generation blockchain projects (i.e. Internet Computer) are now hosting more complex open-source software applications (games, websites, etc.) and large files (like music, movies, art, and books) as assets entirely inside the blockchain without relying on Web 2.0 cloud services like Amazon, Microsoft, etc.
• Peer-to-Peer transactions. With blockchains and simple open-source “smart contracts” providing a trustless layer of accountability, execution, and record-keeping, trusted intermediaries like banks may not be needed. You can buy a film directly from a filmmaker, music from a musician, and books from the author. This opens up an entirely new path forward for small businesses and under-utilized communities worldwide. The global marketplace will never be the same.

At first, many will look at the revolution as a weird little thing, with punks, apes, and HODLers running around on Twitter trying to pump their favorite cryptocurrency holdings. If you feel that way, you are not crazy. It feels very immature right now and the biases we all have will lead many to dismiss it, just as Facebook, Linkedin, and Youtube were dismissed in the early days.

However, there is something very serious underneath all of it. It will change the way most of us engage with the internet going forward.

The revolution has begun.

Act 3.

Ignoring the “odd” early adopters and keeping your distance will not make society’s problems go away or help make the future better. All it does is delay the inevitable. My hope is that we can all reconsider our positions and engage this new generation of the internet, help shape it, and keep it moving forward in a healthy way.

I’ve been learning more about Web 3.0 for the past 18 months and below I’ve highlighted a few early-stage projects that can help you understand what the future may look like. (Note: I have not been paid to promote these projects & have no financial interest in their success.)

Distrikt

Distrikt has nearly 400,000 posts

This is a great example of Web 3.0 social media. Distrikt is being developed by the Open Internet Foundation as a general social media platform to replace sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. It is still in development, but looks awesome and works well for nearly everyone seeking to connect, share, and learn. They also have a great app on Apple’s App Store or Google Play.

• Project home: Distrikt.io
• Someone to follow: Andra Georgescu (Distrikt co-founder)
• How to contribute: There’s a way to submit ideas at the top of your profile
• How I’m using it

Triip & Sustainations DAO

Triip is a relatively new project, it’s interesting to see new use cases emerging for Web 3.0 technology. Their decentralized travel co-op seeks to offer a better experience with travel booking, sustainability, and rewards. They are in the process of launching a metaverse/DAO project called Sustainations where you can play games (in development) and earn real travel rewards.

• Project homes: Triip.me & Sustainations.com

MODCLUB

MODCLUB offers rewards to community members who help moderate various platforms

Without big corporations and their army of workers, how will Web 3.0 deal with bad actors? MODCLUB is a decentralized content moderation platform that provides a moderation process by connecting their community to projects that need user-generated content (UGC) moderation.

• Project home: MODCLUB.app
• How to contribute: Join MODCLUB and help make Web 3.0 work better

DSCVR

DSCVR is a growing alternative to Reddit, but with emerging community governance, verified digital assets as rewards, and other Web 3.0 magic in development. Rick has a wonderful community-driven mindset and this project continues to move forward.

• Project home: DSCVR.one
• Someone to follow: Rick Porter (Project team leader)
• Popular group: Art
• How to contribute: DSCVR Feature Requests
• How I’m using it

All of these platforms use something called “Internet Identity” for logging in. It uses your device’s security to create your private identity. No personal information, email addresses, usernames, or passwords needed.

If you’d like to try out these early Web 3.0 projects (or the hundreds of other great ones), you can learn more about Internet Identity here.

After testing 20+ ecosystem efforts, I believe the Internet Computer (name created by the DFINITY Foundation for easy global translation) public blockchain has the best chance of making Web 3.0 work for you. Everything lives inside this next-generation eco-friendly blockchain: websites, photos, music, movies, etc. This decentralized hosting is low-cost, and there are no standard transaction fees for buying, selling, or trading these assets.

You will be able to own your posts, pictures, and whatever digital assets are next, and you’ll help govern the platforms you use. The blockchain itself takes votes on changes. The work is almost done to extend that to applications like Distrikt, DSCVR, and other Web 3.0 community-governed projects. No more algorithms that hurt users for profit. No more steering your discoveries. It’s a big shift in how we think about the internet.

The only thing it’s missing is you, your feedback, and your energy to make it blossom into something better than what we have now. Your voice matters again.

If we don’t get this right, the story repeats and we’ll be right back where we started in Act 1. Only this time I fear it won’t be only a technological revolution…

— Aaron Biebert

Please note: Even though I have not been paid to share this information with you, I do hold some governance tokens for the Internet Computer & various Cosmos ecosystem projects. These tokens may be sold on exchanges, so there is a financial interest there. Please do your own research. Many people (including publications) are paid to promote various projects.

There’s no cost for joining any of the example projects I’ve mentioned on the Internet Computer, so not much risk. This is one of the reasons I believe it will see wider adoption. Other types of blockchains usually require the use of tokens for gas fees, which power their network. These tokens will need to be purchased. Please do your own research before purchasing anything, and do not experiment with more money than you can afford to lose.