What Is Web3? The New Age Of The Internet

It seems like every other day there is a new buzzword floating around in this industry. Blockchain, smart contracts, DeFi, NFT… And now, Web3.

So what exactly is Web3, or Web 3.0 as some call it? 

First, let's start at the beginning, Web1.

Web1

Web1 was the very early stage of the World Wide Web. The web consisted solely of static pages and a bunch of hyperlinks to other static, primarily text-based web pages. 

You couldn't interact with websites, there were no fancy animations, and certainly no mobile optimised content. Think back to the early 1990s; if you were alive back then, that was very much Web1. 

Web2

Web2 is something you are much more familiar with. It's the internet how you most likely know it today. It's the version of the internet you are using right now to read this blog post. We use scripts to make websites interactive and responsive and provide the browsing experience you've become accustomed to. 

In Web2 social media giants have taken over the world, remote working via Zoom has become the norm, and we've become more connected than ever before. Web2 has changed the world. There's no question about it.

But there are limitations to what Web2 can offer us. 

For a start, it's highly centralised. Megacorporations control the Web2 platforms we're all now so reliant on. Social media, communication platforms, even our online banks are all controlled by centralised organisations. And that's not always a bad thing; sometimes you need a gatekeeper to ensure things are running smoothly. 

Sometimes, not always.

Centralisation leads to problems in certain areas. It makes fraudulent behaviour and manipulation possible as only one system needs to be circumvented or controlled to do so. 

Take event ticketing, for example. 

Tickets can be forged with little effort, and price gouging is a common problem many big-name artists have acknowledged.

A blockchain-based solution would make fraud impossible and eliminate the possibility of scalpers making huge profits from reselling event tickets. 

But with Web 3 technologies, we can solve these kinds of problems. 

Web3

Web3 is the evolution of the internet. It's the World Wide Web but based on blockchain technologies to enable decentralisation. It's not a total rewrite of Web2, but more a merging of Web2 with blockchain and the token economy.

You'll still be able to access websites the way you do now, but behind the scenes, the way backends of these websites work will be rooted in blockchain tech. 

Let's take a look at my previous example about event ticketing. 

SeatlabNFT is developing a platform that will turn event tickets into NFTs. By using NFT technology in this way, we're harnessing the power of the blockchain to eliminate fraud and regain control of the secondary ticketing market. 

So, how will this look?

Well, for an early glimpse, click here. 

It will look and feel just like any other ticketing website, or any other website in general for that matter. You'll type a URL into your browser and start browsing, but the difference is how tickets are issued. 

First, you'll need to connect a crypto wallet similar to how Metamask works. Once you've connected your wallet, you'll be able to purchase tickets in the form of NFTs. 

NFTs are immutable, cannot be forged and undeniably prove ownership which can quickly be verified on the public ledger. They also allow us to attach conditions to them through smart contracts that govern what can and can't be done with NFT tickets even after their initial sale. This will help artists and event organisers regain control of the secondary ticketing market. 

Merging Web2 and certain aspects of blockchain technology is helping us eliminate the biggest issues facing the ticketing industry. But this same concept can be applied to other sectors too. 

Web3 will allow us to fix long-standing issues with the services we already know and love. They'll also enable the development of entirely new products and services we haven't even thought of yet. 

Web3 will remove the need for a third-party intermediary or gatekeeper who acts as the trusted middleman between independent parties. People will be able to interact on a peer-to-peer basis safe in the knowledge that what they're doing is secure. Whether that be communication, financial transactions or, in our case, buying and selling event tickets.  

Wrapping up

As you may have realised by now, the definition of Web3 is somewhat fluid. It can mean different things to different people. But at its core, it's the melding of the internet as we know it today and the blockchain. 

It's about removing the need to trust gatekeepers to run online services and allowing us to interact and transact in a permissionless, trustless and decentralised way. It's about knowing with 100% certainty that the contract you're entering is irrefutable and your counterpart will honour the agreement.

Or we could keep the status quo and allow megacorporations like Facebook Meta to referee our online lives. Because they've always got our best interests at heart, right?

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