One of the most exciting technologies to come out of the last decade was the consumer blockchain. Introduced to the world, conjointly with Bitcoin; little did we know this was the start of a series of events that will lead to the end of life as we know it.
We aren’t at the tipping point yet but the signs are as clear as daylight that that’s where we’re headed. More and more people are becoming well versed in the terminology and are showing genuine interest in some of the technology’s use cases.
Web 2.5 is a concept that represents the current encapsulation of the old internet (the building blocks of Web1 and the fundamental aspects of Web2) and the new internet (the revolution that is Web3).
What makes Web3 so special is that the idea around the consumer blockchain (the technology that Web3 as a concept is embedded on) is to create a decentralised but secure internet; an aspect that Web 2 fails at since most of our data sits on centralised servers controlled by top tech companies like Amazon, Meta and Alphabet.
Web3 represents a paradigm shift that I believe most people in society aren’t ready for but are curious enough to participate in to explore what it’s about and how they can benefit from it – that’s how Web 2.5 sort of came to life. Centralised platforms that apply Web3 use cases to give consumers the “Web3 experience” in ways that they are used to.
Our monthly newsletter (and podcast) “This Month In Africa” is issued through a platform called Substack which I believe represents the Web 2.5 concept quite accurately. Substack gives Onyx Africa access to our mailing list (if the platform shuts down for whatever reason, I have access to all my subscribers and we can migrate to a different platform) and all our analytics. If a platform like Meta was to shut down tomorrow, I would also lose all my followers on Instagram – there would be no way I can reach out to them. Although Substack decentralises our access to our community, they are (just like Meta) a centralised platform owned and managed by a few people.
Other popular platforms that represent the Web 2.5 concept quite accurately are OpenSea (the world’s largest NFT marketplace), Luminary (a subscription podcast with original shows from the likes of Dave Chappelle, Trevor Noah as well as Russel Brand), and Patreon (a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service).
Web 2.5 is basically the messy version of Web3 and these platforms give people that aren’t immersed in the crypto ecosystem, an opportunity to play around some of the really cool use cases and get slightly introduced to the future internet.
From the growth of Web 2.5, I’ve comprehended the inevitability of humans doing things they never imagined doing. Using better technologies for things that they are already doing or are interested in doing, humans create and adopt better ways of doing things; that’s part of how we evolve.
When I explore the different use cases and applications of NFTs, the fact that they’re uniquely identifiable assets stored in a distributed ledger makes it difficult to ignore the idea that everyone will eventually own an NFT. Whether as a representation of a loyalty reward program at your local supermarket, an event ticket at your favourite festival, ownership of a physical asset like a car or even a utility token to unlock access to a unique offering that you’ve monetised. Web3 is way bigger than NFTs but NFTs have managed to give us a great idea of the potential of the future internet.
We are slowly approaching Web3 and still sitting on Web2 but most of the value is currently being created on Web 2.5. I think it’s important that we immerse ourselves in the shift from Web2 to Web3 by firstly recognising the demise of Web2, adopt and begin to use Web 2.5 and consistently learn about what Web3 has on offer.
If you don’t consider yourself a “first-mover” or “early-adopter” and believe you don’t need to keep abreast with the paradigm shift – you are in for a big surprise because when Web3 eventually takes over, we have no choice but to pivot. What does that mean for you?