What Is Web3? And How Can Your Marketing Agency Take Advantage?
If you’re anything like most of our friends and family here at The Forum, the phrase “Web3” is an entirely new one. This is what you need to know: Web3 is being touted as the future of the World Wide Web as we know it. It’s an umbrella term for many new technologies, concepts, and possibilities online. And as a Web3 content marketing agency in San Diego, we can tell you all about its up-and-coming advantages.
Marketing in Web3 is the future; would you like to join us there?
What the Heck is Web3?
Web1:
It all started with Web1. Think of Web1 as the very early days of the Internet. The Internet became a “thing” back in 1983. At first, it was fairly unrecognizable to us active users today. It began as “node-to-node” communications between computers and then a group of fledgling networks. Then in 1990, computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web.
Major transformations marked this period. Information was being entered onto many static pages online. WebsiteBuilders.com also notes that Web1 saw these developments:
Website content stored in files
content and layout combos
Proprietary HTML tags
Guestbooks
Forms having to be emailed
Thus this period of time, between the mid-eighties and late nineties, is now considered Web1. Web2 began in 1999 during another massive transformation period.
Web2:
Darci DiNucci coined both Web1 and Web2 as terms in January of 1999 in her article "Fragmented Future.” She writes: “Ironically, the defining trait of Web 2.0 will be that it won’t have any visible characteristics at all. The Web will be identified only by its underlying DNA structure — TCP/IP (the protocol that controls how files are transported across the Internet), HTTP (the protocol that rules the communication between computers on the Web), and URLs (a method for identifying files).”
For many of the earliest websites built in the 90s, their style was static. Their makeup was extremely simple. There was little to no dynamic HTML. But starting in 1999 and onward, new interactive website features began to appear. The possibilities of what could be accomplished in a web browser soared. This was a major turning point for web development globally.
Other features of Web2 include:
Social networking and social media sites
Video and image sharing
Web applications
Hosted services
Collaborative consumption platforms
Mashup applications
The term “Web2” gained traction when O'Reilly Media and MediaLive hosted their first Web 2.0 conference In 2004. Then, in 2006, Time Magazine made “You” their Person of the Year. They were acknowledging the massive number of people contributing anonymously and creating content across the Internet.
In his cover story for Time, writer Lev Grossman says: “It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world but also change the way the world changes.”
Web3:
This brings us to Web3. While you may not have heard the term, you have likely heard of its building blocks: blockchain. Blockchain is about far more than just cryptocurrencies and NFTs, although it supports both. Blockchain collects data in groups, or “blocks,” hence the name. One block is filled and then connected to the next, forming a chain.
Previously, databases put their information into tables. Now, with blockchain as an option for data storage, the advantages are myriad. If a database is filled with all of the information for, say, a hospital, an attack or accident that affects a small portion of the data puts all of it at risk. Blockchain data, on the other hand, is spread out. This creates redundancy. It also makes the data more secure. If a cyber attacker is hacking away at one block, the rest are still perfectly safe. Finally, blockchain data storage cannot be reversed. The data can be tracked and accessed forever.
So — the multitude of possibilities blockchain has created for the Internet have been coined “Web3.” It has the potential to fundamentally change what we can all do online, starting with our central financial systems. Companies including Adidas, Nike, and Under Armour are already cashing in to the tune of millions of dollars. The likelihood is that crypto features will start to sneak into our daily lives (and into our wallets) in the near future.
What Does Web3 Have to Do With Marketing and PR?
Functioning as a marketing agency in Web3 is also ripe with possibilities. Here at The Forum, Web3 is already present in our work and in the work of our clients. Some are trading in cryptocurrencies or NFTs. Others are putting big money into artificial intelligence (AI.)
The tactics used to manage initiatives including SEO, social media marketing, and content marketing are evolving — and as a prominent agency doing all three services for our clients here in San Diego, we’re working hard to stay at the top of the game. If you’d like to learn more about Web3 and how it can take your marketing services to the next level, it’s time to get in touch.