When we delve into the world of Web 3.0, we starting to uncover some things that are very telling. These are not "secrets" since they have been known for the last 25-30 years. That said, they are not evident to most of us.
Quite honestly, most do not even take the time to give any of this a second thought.
Those that do, however, were able to leverage some of these concepts for massive financial gain. They are used by the largest companies in the world. At the same time, thee is an emerging field of study that is researching what it taking place and the rules that are followed.
What we are talking about, at the core, is networks. There is a growing field dedicated to studying Network Theory. The Internet was a boom to this since it provided a model that could be charted to show things such as distribution curve.
Whether there was known correlation between the two or not is unknown but it is also the approach the likes of Google, Facebook, and Amazon took to becomes some of the largest companies in the world.
It is also the basis for Web 3.0. Here is where the average person can get involved.
The title states this as Web3 yet that isn't exactly accurate.
It is the same in Web 2.0. The difference between the two is in the ownership model.
Web 2.0 activity equates to money. We can see the different ways that these corporations are monetizing what takes place on their platforms. This is, of course, not typically shared with individuals to any great degree.
Here we see things changing yet following the same patterns researchers are finding everything. It is why a concept like micro-earning is so powerful.
For simplicity sake, we will use the word node to mean anything that is connected to a network. This could be infrastructure or a user. From the design perspective, they are the same.
Each node conducts a certain amount of activity. This could creating tweets, doing blog posts, uploading videos, or commenting in the social media realm. It also could be processing transactions or storing data.
These activities generate money. The key is this is not a 1:1 tradeoff. In fact, networks operate in a completely different fashion.
Here is how it is charted out:
This is also called the scale-free curve. Without going into too much detail, this curve was shown to be present even in random networks. In fact, here is where the mapping of the Internet really showed it to be the case.
The chart is showing this based upon products. It does, however, apply to a lot more. When looking at nodes, in whatever form they take, we not only see this curve present but it is repeating. Hence, if we started at the right side of the curve and zoomed in, the curve would be repeated.
We must point out that a key distinction if the fact that, within Web3, tokenization provides for monetization. On a network such as Hive, as an example, activities can be rewarded. Upvotes have a value assigned to them based upon stake. This means that people are directly rewarded for activities undertaken.
Of course, this is only one monetization model. There are others being developed.
Moving from the long tail model, let us look at a hub diagram. Again, this is something that applies to many things in nature but we will concentrate on the node idea.
This is what feeds into the scale-free curve. In mapping the Internet, it was noticed that not all nodes were equal. Some took on added importance, becoming hubs. Here we see how this unfolds whether we are talking websites (and traffic to them), infrastructures nodes (data processed) or users on a social media site.
Here is where the quandary enters.
This is a normal distribution curve in a random network. It was not planned or set up this way yet this is how it always unfolds. Knowing this provides a great deal of insight.
With Web 3.0, it is very exciting since we are essentially talking about monetization. Unlike Web 2.0, where this diagram is all owned by meta or X, taking the majority of the financial benefits, we can see how the individual nodes can benefit.
That is the major shift that will take place.
Therefore, it is simply up to the individual node (person) to start moving towards another destination. Here is where activity = money should be evident.
If activities are rewarded in some fashion, and that doesn't go to an extracting entity (a company), then it only stands to reason the goal should be to move further left on the distribution curve. Or, if we are focusing upon the second diagram, to make oneself a larger hub.
Here is where we go from a random outcome to one that is designed. It is possible to take actions that aid in this process.
The key simply becomes "more".
Thus, when connecting all these dots, more activity = more money. We saw this over the last 3 decades with the difference being most of us did not get any of it. People spent thousands of hours becoming hubs for Google or Meta.
Now it is time they can do it for themselves.
Of course, this requires a shift in thinking.
There is one final benefit. When we look at the multi-layer value of data, especially in the age of AI, we can see how the platforms themselves benefit greatly. Hence, we see a similar concept applied. Generating more hubs is crucial within a network, something that is more than just users. That is only one piece of the entire puzzle.
In reality, there are no "people" on a digital platform. humans do not exist. We are actually a page that is linked to others. All your "friends" on Facebook are nothing more than links to their content. A person's YouTube channel is really a webpage that contains a host of other pages with videos in them.
Which means the ties together are still nothing more than links. That is what separates the hubs from the smaller nodes.
To become a hub simply means getting more links tied to you. This stems from activity. Certainly, the going viral can help. However, that often requires something outside one's control. We have no control over what happens to the content once it is created. However, the more of it means there is a chance another hub could repost it.
It all boils down to the basics.
When the world realizes what Web 3.0 truly means, it will rush to get involved. That is going to take some time since, it seems, many who are already involved are overlooking the fundamental concept.
