Back in the 90s, the internet was a place of hope and freedom. Many ppl were expecting a better society driven by a good web.
Today it's a horrible place. Money + hate rule online. We all know it has to change. But how? What makes the next web a good one? Some thoughts. #Web5
1. Money. The Internet is all about commerce. Why?
-Today it is technically possible to pay for goods online and have them delivered. 20 yrs. ago it wasn't so easy.
-The investments for an online business are quite low. Sometimes all small businesses need is a website.
But small businesses aren't the problem. The real problem is BigTech: Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. They dominate the internet. Why? Because they earn money by marketing and every time you buy / sell sth. online.
Identity is a big issue. Most of us have our identity online controlled by BigTech. We open an account on Facebook, Twitter, Google, or whatever, and give away our name and data. Sometimes we even provide sensible data like bank accounts or passports.
We all upload that data to the big providers without any control over what they do with it. They sell it to the companies bidding the most - to offer you things you can buy.
Today there are mainly 2 types of identities online.
Centralized: you open an account on e.g. Google. G gets your data, at least your identifier, and password. Often it's much more eg an address, credit card, or passport number. In return, you get Google services, which G uses to get more data from you - that they will sell.š
Federated: Providers like Google or Amazon establish agreements btw each other and with 3. parties. Here you can log in to eg. the NYT w/ a Google account. Google now gets even more data. Now they know what you're reading + probably thinking.
In this case, G gets fewer data directly, but finally more data. Remember: Google means BigTech. There is one solution here: again avoid BigTech. How? Identity ownership. In this model, your identity is deposited with a trusted 3rd party.
When using the identity or any data, the owner of the identity has to allow the use by signing it. This is identity ownership and this will make the Internet a more pleasant place.
2. Hate. The big question is: Why is there so much hate online? The big answer is quite simple. Anonymity. On the Internet, you don't have to be liked by anyone. You don't have to meet expectations or please anyone. Unfortunately, that often doesn't bode well.
Many ppl vent their frustration online. All they need is an account with a different name than theirs. That's dangerous and we should prevent it in #Web5. How? identities that are hidden but traceable if necessary.
3. party identifier could help w/ that too. They know who you are and would avoid using false identities w/o publishing your name.
So identity is key.
Daniel Krueger
@d_krueger
Board member @acter. I write about Web5 and the future of web. šš» thinkingweb5.beehiiv.com Expat in Lisbon, Portugal šµš¹ Tweets in š¬š§š©šŖšµš±šš»
