Cryptocurrency adding to problems of the modern internet
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Loading... - Caitlin Byrne
- 13 Jul 2022
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In his younger years, the internet was a network of networks on which someone with a telephone connection, modem, PC, navigation and search program could visit places to find information, make transactions, exchange messages and entertainment.
One of the driving ideologies of this Web 1.0 was the democratisation of access to information. The idea was that if all citizens without technical and financial barriers have the same access to the desired information, they will have the same amount of knowledge and power. Very little has come of that ideal.
In the next phase of development of the internet, Web 2.0, the user was promoted from only passive consumer to also active producer of information and communication. Social media made its appearance. Thanks to services such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and many others, the internet would transform the world into a social mecca where all world citizens would communicate with each other as a large and lovingly operating family by emailing, texting and chatting.
But it went pretty wrong. Especially because of the possibility of (forwarding) anonymous and manipulated messages, the “social” media channels quickly degenerated into sewers full of indecent name-calling, taunting, disinformation and conspiracy theories.
Criminals also quickly discovered the attractive combination of accessibility and large scale, making the internet an unsafe environment for many people. On top of that, American technology companies saw their chance to hold users hostage and reduce them, unsolicited, to far-simplified and especially lucrative data profiles.
On Web 2.0, power is concentrated in the Big Five — Apple, Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon. The powerlessness, vulnerability and dependence of the user are blistering. Fortunately, governments are now intervening.
This derailment of the internet through concentration of power is also the reason that decentralisation is the driving ideology behind Web 3.0, referred to as Web3. The decentralisation of information and transaction management can put power back in the hands of the user and can reduce the interference and control of governments and institutions such as banks and large internet companies.
The technical vehicle to achieve this is the blockchain. The rise of cryptocurrency with coins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are good examples of the use of blockchain. This technique can not only ensure the decentralised management of money but also of all kinds of goods, information and outlandish new identities such as Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs).
Would the utopia of ultimate democratisation finally come true thanks to the Web3 version of the internet? Does Web3 guarantee the realisation of the ideal electronic environment for the world citizen yearning for independence and security? Or as some Web3 adepts say, “To lock people up in a more cooperative and less self-destructive society”.
I am afraid that human nature and the never infallible technology will lead to the outcome of the new salvific prophecy of the internet being disappointing this time, too. With Web 1.0, more access to information has not led to better dissemination of knowledge and power. With Web 2.0, the wide availability of communication services has not transformed the world's population into a cozy chattering village community overflowing with understanding, appreciation, inclusivity and cooperation. Read More...
