Is Web3 on Life Support?
I have spent the last two years researching, designing and developing for a Web3 Future. These are some of my observations and predictions for its future.
NFTs and Crypto initially defined what was possible. But as it turns out, the grifters dominated the marketplace and fools rushed in. Money and trust was lost even when NFTs can be used to enable access and rights to media experiences like video, livestreams, games and immersive media through tokenization. But Web3 always promised a lot more. Web3 provides a user-friendly interface, typically in the form of a website, to access a blockchain, which is a decentralized and immutable data store. A Web3 website includes code that enables it to interact with the blockchain and other blockchain-related software.
When your data and account are stored on a centralized database owned by someone else, they have control over it and can restrict your access or even delete your account. In contrast, with a blockchain-based data store, only you have control over your data, and no one can modify or delete it without your permission. The blockchain's decentralized nature also makes it resistant to censorship, as no central authority has the power to restrict or alter data on the blockchain. Overall, Web3 and blockchain technology provide greater control and security for individuals over their data and accounts no matter what business sector.
Enough about Free Speech as it is currently conflated with Free Hate.
The missing sectors where there is movement is in banking (#defi), healthcare, logisitics/supply chain, Identity management and a plethora of DApps (Decentralized Apps).
For those businesses who were able to fund and launch their Web3 venture in the last two years, congratulations on building towards a decentralized future. For those who had an idea but for whatever reason, did not get funded, these are challenging times to find investors. As the Crypto and NFT market has shaked out the fraudsters and grifters, Web3 is going through the same process. It has been an amazing pivot how many so-called experts deftly moved from Crypto experts to NFT experts to Web3 experts to the new shiny object AI Experts, specifically ChatGPT experts, most never building anything.
Who is leading?
Jack Dorsey seems to be in the zeitgeist with his new Twitter alternative Bluesky Social, decentralized social done right. They are in beta currently, so watch this space.
Other attempts like Mastodon and HUMBL are flailing and the one soon to launch is THIN/AIR, created by media and tech veteran Susan Brazer.
THIN/AIR addresses this enormous market opportunity by enabling next-gen experiences, efficiencies and economics. It introduces “Collective Reality” (CR) capabilities that connect creators, brands and communities across the physical, digital and virtual worlds. I love this new term Collective Reality as it transcends the overhyped VR, XR and AR. Watch this space.
I, for one, am moving from Web3 and building and focusing on Generative AI. I will make a bold statement that it will be the new Web4 and leave Web3 in the dust. People are making real products with great utility, all the legal aspects aside. This Go Fast mindset is revolutionizing the app market and you should definitely watch this space.
About the Author
Curt Doty is a former Universal Pictures creative executive and award-winning marketer. His cross-media discipline has led to a branding practice leveraging his 25 years of experience. As a creative entrepreneur, his sweet spot of innovation has been uniting the worlds of design, content and technology through the recently launched MediaSlam. Working with Microsoft, Toshiba and Apple, Curt created award-winning advanced content experiences for mobile, eBooks and advertising. He has bridged the gap between TV, Film and Technology while working with all the movie studios and dozens of TV networks. Curt’s Fortune 500 work includes content marketing and digital storytelling for brands like GM, US Army, Abbott, Dell, and Viacom. His consultancy CurtDoty.co continues to help mid to late stage startups and Fortune 500 companies. www.curtdoty.co
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