What is Web3 and why is Jack Dorsey not a believer?

[Symon]

This week, Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey and Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted criticisms of Web3, the supposed “next evolution” of the internet that’s got (almost) everyone excited.

But what is Web3, what promise does it hold, and why have Dorsey and Musk been dunking on it?
 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk (left) and Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey

On Sunday, Musk tweeted a clip from a 1995 interview of Bill Gates by David Letterman, in which the Microsoft CEO, after describing the potential of a new-fangled technology called the internet, is promptly mocked by his host. The Tesla CEO wrote alongside: “Given the almost unimaginable nature of the present, what will the future be?”
 

Elon Musk

@elonmusk

Given the almost unimaginable nature of the present, what will the future be?

6:54 AM, . Dec 20, 2021

 

In a follow-up tweet he wrote:

“I’m not suggesting Web3 is real—seems more like a marketing buzzword than reality right now—just wondering what the future will be like in 10, 20 or 30 years. 2051 sounds crazy futuristic!”
 

Elon Musk

@elonmusk

Has anyone seen web3? I can’t find it.

11:06 AM, . Dec 21, 2021

 

The next day, he tweeted, “Has anyone seen Web3? I can’t find it.” To this, Dorsey replied, “It’s somewhere between a and z,” hinting that Web3 is already controlled by venture capital firms such as Andreessen Horowitz, also known as A16z.
 

jack⚡️

@jack

@elonmusk It’s somewhere between a and z

11:07 AM, . Dec 21, 2021

 

To drive the point home Dorsey put out another tweet, saying, “You (users) don’t own “Web3.” The [venture capitalists] and their [limited partners] do. It will never escape their incentives. It’s ultimately a centralised entity with a different label. Know what you’re getting into…” His mentions were instantly filled with upset Web3 evangelists calling him “dead wrong”—and those were just the polite ones.
 

jack⚡️

@jack

You don’t own “web3.”

The VCs and their LPs do. It will never escape their incentives. It’s ultimately a centralized entity with a different label.

Know what you’re getting into…

9:21 AM, . Dec 21, 2021

 

Musk and Dorsey’s tweets, and the angry reactions to them, perfectly summed up the mixture of fervour and ridicule that the term Web3 evokes in 2021. It is, depending on who you ask, the promise of a utopian, decentralised internet, or a giant marketing scam by people driven only by power and money.

The primary idea behind Web3—the term was coined in 2014—is that it will be based on the same blockchain technology that powers things like cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Blockchains are essentially incorruptible digital ledgers that can be used to track the movement of digital assets.

Just as cryptocurrency in theory bypasses central authorities such as banks, Web3 would also bypass the central authorities we know as Big Tech. The dream of Web3 advocates is to create a decentralised web that isn’t beholden to the whims—and rent-seeking—of these firms. The thinking goes like this: if you create a piece of art—or shoot a photo or a video— and post it online, why should the platform you posted it on benefit more than you do?

Evolution of the web

The original world wide web, now called Web 1.0, decentralised power from the hands of publishers by allowing anyone with technical knowhow and an internet connection to publish things online. Those of a certain age will remember that this version of the web, while astounding at the time, was utterly static and not particularly useful. You could call Web 1.0 the read-only web.

Web 2.0, a term coined in 1999, saw the development of easy-to-use tools that let anyone create and publish content online and interact with each other. Ironically this democratisation of access led to centralisation of power with the creation of giant companies such as Facebook and Google.

Advocates of Web3 say blockchains and cryptocurrencies will one day allow internet users to own the connected services apps and games that are currently the property of Facebook, Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

That, ultimately, is why Dorsey’s criticism stung Web3 fans—because he was essentially saying this was all a pipe dream. That, rather than freeing internet users from the clutches of Big Tech, Web3 would simply mean replacing one set of powerful companies with another.