Introduction
Hey there! I'm Dany, a Full Stack Web(3) developer, a developer for 10 years and into Web3 and Blockchain for half a year now. Learning new things, building cool projects, and engaging with people are my favorite things.
I love decentralization and right here right now I want to share with you why we, as the users of the web, deserve it. It's a story full of bans, censorship, and account suspensions. Let's dive into this!
Whats the problem with Web2?
Web2 is great. This isn't a thread about trash-talking Web2. In fact, Web3 is just an addition to Web2. The current Web is centralized. But what does that actually means?
Well, all these big companies like Amazon, Google etc. own a big bunch of the current web. They offer platforms like YouTube or AWS.
Let's look at my favorite example:
You are a YouTuber and it's your Full-Time Job. Each week you upload multiple videos and you make a good amount of money. Suddenly your last video gets removed by YouTube. They may give you a reason but in your opinion, that is not true and everything was fine. Maybe you worked very hard on this video, over 20 hours. All your work - gone. No advertisements, no views - No money.
Is this fair? Nah I don't think so.
In this case, YouTube is the central authority. They decide which videos stay on the platform. In addition, they also decide which content will get the most money.
The more children-friendly the content is, the more money you will get.
Let sum it up, YouTube decides:
- Which Content stays on the Platform
- How much money do you get based on the content
- They can censor you and your opinion
And the worst thing is, they don't need a valid reason. It's their platform so everybody needs to play under their rules.
I have mentioned this a lot in the past and some people then say:
Then just use another platform. It's your decision if you Uploading Videos there.
True. And False. YouTube is a monopoly. If you want to upload videos that will get views you need YouTube. If you want to earn (good) money with it - well you need Youtube.
It's the same thing if you would say:
Don't complain about the gasoline prices. Just don't drive.
And this kind of monopoly we have all over the current web.
How do we solve this problem?
Web3
With Blockchain technology, a new way of thinking was born. A decentralized way of thinking. Our Web is transitioning at this moment.
Around 1994 the web was born. Also called Web 1.0. You only could read things. It was the Read-only Web.
Around 2004 Web 2.0 arrived. Social Media were spreading like crazy across the globe. People interacted with each other on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. The Read-Write Web.
2008 Satoshi Nakamoto released a Whitepaper for what we now know as Bitcoin. Although it's not the date Web3 really started it was the glow that now burns brighter than ever. Web3 is new. Very new. With Ethereum which was born in 2015 things started to come together. A decentralized platform that is Turing Complete and where you can code and develop.
Since we can write Smart Contracts on the Blockchain the possibilities are endless. Smart Contracts are simply programs that run on the Blockchain. I will write a complete introduction to them in a different blog post.
Web3 is NOT about money
You might heard about people that made quick money inside the world of Web3. But that's not what Web3 is about. For example NFTs.
NFTs are not here to make us rich. They offer so much more and they give us opportunities. The value of NFTs should be measured by their utilities and use cases.
Garys VeeFriends is a very good example by Gary V. There it's not about money. All NFTs have some kind of utility that you can use for different things. For example, some NFTs are tickets to VeeCon, a multi-day event exclusively for NFT holders.
Unfortunately, many people get scammed with false promises. If it's too good to be true it's usually not true. This is even more true in Web3.
Web3 is pure decentralization. In every form.
Decentralization
What does Decentralization mean? Well, maybe you remember the YouTube example I wrote above. The opposite of this is decentralization. Every tweet you make on Twitter, every video you upload, every File you upload, and every single content you produce belongs to you. You own it! No central authorities that censor you.
We, the people, the users, and the content creators are all free and connected and we all have the same rights.
How to achieve that?
Well, decentralization is something we have to fight for. And we have to put in the work. It doesn't matter if you are a developer, a graphic designer, a product manager, etc. In the end, we all have to push decentralization in every possible way.
I'm a developer and content creator. My job is to spread the word, to help people understand Web3, build decentralized apps and help everyone to understand how to use it.
All these Crypto and Blockchain terminologies are still new and sound scary to non-tech people like my mother. The end goal would be to onboard these users. Then we can make Web3 and decentralization suitable for the mass.
Drawbacks
Well, nothing and no one is perfect. Decentralization is also not perfect. But damn its close! There are many problems we have to face and tackle in the next few years.
A good example would be this: Imagine you have a decentralized platform and every user can upload everything without censorship. But what if that user posts something harmful? No central authority means no one can delete it.
This is one example, of one problem we have to tackle for upcoming decentralized platforms. But I'm very optimistic that we will solve such problems!
Summary
I hope I gave you a deeper understanding of Web3 and decentralization and why this is something that we need and, more importantly, deserve!
Maybe you are already into Web3, maybe you just want to start now. If this is the case I can highly recommend LearnWeb3DAO. You can learn Web3 from the very beginning to very advanced topics. In addition, you can join Discord where you can chat with thousands of Web3 lovers and developers and there is always someone who can help you.
Let us build a better web. A decentralized web that is owned by us, the users, and not by the big companies or the governments.
For more content about Web3 and Web Development in general you can find me on Twitter.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, I wish you a wonderful day, and never forget to always put on your biggest smile!