Why I'll never leave Web3 (professionally or otherwise)
Whichever way you look at it, you can't deny that we are at the mercy of "big tech" players (such as Meta and Google). We have sold our souls to the corporate devil and happily give away our data in exchange for the services and platforms we all know and love. Instead of outwardly charging money for their services, companies track the browsing history of their users to gain valuable marketing information and launch targeted marketing campaigns.
In the world of Web2.0, we regularly share various levels of information to third-party entities in order to gain access to products and services. We must either trust that these entities are keeping their info secure, or forfeit our personal information willingly to the wider public of target marketing and ignore that Web2.0 databases regularly experience hacks and data breaches.
That is why, since making the shift to Web3 in my career in the beginning of 2022, I have also made strides towards using decentralized alternatives in my personal life as well (as much as possible). And also why I'm never looking back.
How Web3 can make significant improvements to our digital lives
If Web2 has allowed us to enjoy peer-to-peer interactions on a global scale, they've always done it through a middleman - essentially, a platform acting as a trusted intermediary between two people who do not know or trust each other. It was definitely a necessary evolution of the web, but they dictate all the rules and control the data of their users.
The Web3 solution includes:
- reinventing the way that data is stored and managed over the Internet, providing a unique set of data — a universal state layer — that is collectively managed by all nodes in the network
- providing a native value settlement layer for the Internet in the absence of intermediaries
- enabling true P2P transactions, (all put into motion with the emergence of Bitcoin)
- collaboratively managing data by a P2P network of computers. The management rules are formalized in the protocol and secured by majority consensus of all network participants, who are incentivized with a network token for their activities
Web3 technologies, including decentralized applications (dApps) and blockchain technology, can address the problem of vulnerability to censorship by creating a more open and decentralized web where no single entity has control. As such, no powerful tech entity will have the ability to control any available content on the web.
By leveraging the power of Web3 protocols and standards, different blockchain networks can be connected, and users can transact and exchange value across different platforms. This helps to break down the silos of value that exist in the current blockchain and crypto ecosystem and paves the way for a new era of decentralized networks that can power the future of finance and commerce.
Some of the ways I am transitioning further into Web3 alternatives
- I use Sending.Me instead of Telegram = I connect my wallet and can also reveal my NFTs in that wallet; I can send crypto to other members in there directly; most importantly, I can message and manage digital assets all in one place while maintaining full ownership of my interactions.
- Bulb App = where we are right now! Better than Medium, and a great way to earn and be rewarded for contributing and interacting.
- Banking with Fiat24 = I top up my Fiat24 cash account using both fiat and crypto, all from my MetaMask and instantly convert crypto to Euros when I want to spend their Visa debit card. All my data is connected to my NFT, so MetaMask doesn't know my data; only Fiat24 stores it on their server in Switzerland.
- Email alternative Ethermail = the first email solution setting the standard for anonymous and encrypted wallet-to-wallet communication. Plus, earn tokens there too!
The path to Web3 replacing Web2 will no doubt be long and arduous, but I believe we are making good progress and moving in the right direction. Nevertheless, I will never go back to Web2 now - not in my career, at least, and I intend to keep on searching for the best new platforms out there using blockchain technology to reinvent the web as we know it.
Are you in? Drop your comments and let me know!
