There was a time, not too long ago, where digital platforms stayed in their lane.
This is no longer the case. Elon Musk epitomized the mindset when he mentioned his goal of the "Everything App". He is not alone in this quest. While other platforms are not framing it in such a manner, there tentacles are spreading. We are seeing a lot more cross pollination, meaning the silos as being altered.
Previously, we had YouTube for video uploading. Instagram was for images. X took care of microblogging. Facebook was a collection of many different things. Spotify for music. TikTok for shorts. Amazon for shopping.
All of this changed.
In this article, we will discuss the transition which is happening along with the future of Web 3.0. There are a lot of concept within this move that we should be mindful of.
Image generated by Ideogram
Everything Applications
Where can you go for shorts (video)?
There was a time this was the domain of TikTok. As the leader, this is probably still the case. However, there is a shift that occurred. Other platforms realized the value in this and targeted the audience.
Today, we have shorts on YouTube. It set up a page similar to TikTok. People can upload video to X. Facebook has Reels.
Basically, this is no longer the sole domain of TikTok.
Microblogging took a similar turn. Twitter was long the champion of this type of content. Meta decided to enter the game with Threads. It now has over 200 million users.
We are witnessing exactly what technology companies do. They do not believe in moats or barriers. Any business they want to enter is fair game.
This is extending out to shopping sites.
Do you know who the top originator of search is? That would be Amazon. It starts roughly half the online searches.
Of course, this makes sense since people see a product and want to know about it.
There is a problem. Amazon was not keen about having people leave their site to head to Google. Hence, the platform is building out more robust search, bringing the information right to the user. Walmart is doing the same thing.
To these companies, there is no reason to give this traffic to Google.
The Lesson For Web 3.0
It would seem the days of being niche are over.
The future success of platforms will require them to offer more than what was done previously. We are watching a race as these entities seek to add as much to their platforms as possible.
Elon Musk is already looking to get X into the payment arena. By filing for licenses, he aims to offer payments right on X, taking PayPal on.
We already see Amazon as a major player in the television and film industry. It is also getting into sports. Could this be integrated into their platform in a larger way at some point? That is probable.
To compete, Web 3.0 is going to have to embrace this mindset.
These entities are viewing themselves as more than just companies. The framework I like to use is one of a "digital nation". Here we see the digital real estate turning into a town. When this happens, all goods and services are required. Over time, expansion means the town becomes a city, then spread across the entire land.
Ultimately, we end up with countries with economies driven by a wide variety of industries.
Here is where Web 3.0 should take the less.
A blockchain can serve as the basis for this. To keep the analogy, this is the raw land.
From there, building must start. Unlike the offering of Bitcoin, there needs to be a lot more. Providing payments is nothing more than being PayPal. Based upon what was described above, do you think that is a company that will excel in a decade. We know every major Web 2.0 platform will have payments built in. What is the need for PayPal?
Digital networks have enormous potential yet it is a question of what is built on top of them. This is no different than raw land. We use the phrase "digital real estate" for a reason.
Social media will not exist without finance. Blockchains have this built in. The question is how many blockchains have "towns" developing. At this point, it appears not many. Ethereum is doing well in particular areas but still lagging in others. transaction fees still preclude that network from truly filling the void.
Everything Networks
We are conditioned to look at the online world through applications. This makes sense since that is how we interact with networks.
However, this is the wrong focus. Certainly, users will still engage via applications yet the framework of the system is the network. This is the basis.
Essentially, we are looking at the evolution to the everything network. We might call X, Meta, and Google applications but they are really networks. Here is where the race is taking place.
This positioning should make the pathway of Web 3.0 clear.
Networks need to fill in all voids. We know Big Tech is working overtime to make this a reality. They are adding features on a regular basis. History shows they do not look at things as barriers. If they want to enter a market, it is simply added to the application.
The Mediums and Substacks of the world will be swallowed up. We are seeing the likes of X adding blogging. Commerce is going to become a major part of these networks. Obviously, if payment systems are installed, it only makes sense to have things people can spend money on.
If Web 3.0 is to ultimate dominate, we will have to see this mindset spreading throughout the entire industry. Platforms should seek to add as many features as possible, bringing a more complete offering to the table. It all starts with the age old question, what do people need?
Big tech is going to do all it can to lock people in. They are very good at it. Web 3.0 is going to have to start by rivaling the offering. It will still be a challenge since people tend to do a lot of things habitually.