Web 2.0: The internet of the poor

in LeoFinance2 years ago (edited)

Does that sound like a controversial tile for a post? Does it position Web 3.0 as a place for the rich? How would you feel if that was the case?

Right - let's go.

A lot of people throw their arms up at the idea of having to "pay to play" in some way - pay for an account or a subscription, buy some Hive for RCs or the like. After all, think of the poor who can't afford the entry fee.

You are monsters!!

OI000142 (3).jpg

But here is the thing...

The monsters aren't the Web 3.0 business models, the monsters are the platforms that leverage the content, data and networks of their users by granularly categorizing and targeting them in order to extract as much wealth out through pay-for-click advertising models. All for the cost of a "free" signup.

No Upfront Payments

There are no costs upfront, but that doesn't mean there are no costs. How do you think these platforms make money after all? They leverage the userbase, the users are the product and they have convinced the masses that their value is worth nothing more than some hearts and stars, and a thumb where the sun don't shine - While the platforms themselves rake in billions for the owners.

You see, it is in the ownership where the difference lays, as owners are responsible for and entitled to the success of their holdings. When you own nothing on the Web 2.0 platforms, you do not have access to the profits that are generated, even if you are at least partly responsible for the generation process.

It is an interesting thing though, as while many people are highly resistant to pay for their ownership, they are more than happy to have multiples of that cost extracted by all of those platforms who gave them free signup and then pushed them to consume, buy, waste their time, effort, energy and creativity to create a population of milked cows.

The Poor Internet

The internet poor of the future are the ones who chose not to buy-in to Web 3.0 in some way, whether it be with fiat directly or through some kind of work that earned some level of ownership stake. It will be the people who are users and consumers who are unable and unwilling to pay even the slightest amount or, have nothing to trade for stake.

We see it already, where for example in some countries, the internet is Facebook as that is the only way that they can get access to the internet for free or at some discounted rate. This isn't done out of the goodness of Facebook's Meta's heart, it is done to *buy a captured audience, to enslave people to their gateways, their content, their paying advertisers.

The most important part of Web 3.0 isn't the tokenization that allows people to earn, it is the tokenization that allows people to own. This means that rather than the masses having their resources pooled and collected by a few centralized owners, the masses are owners and the value they generate is distributed across the vast array of other owners. The consumer and user are still there and they are still targeted by advertisers, but the demographic of owners of all of the products and services, as well as the advertisers themselves are vastly different. They aren't people sitting in suits, talking to their lawyers and trading their wealth in the derivative markets - it is people like you and I - normal people, living a life the best they can, taking and making opportunities when and how they can.

There is No Free Lunch

It is good to remember this and also, no one owes you anything. If you want to own something in this world, you are going to have to take responsibility for yourself and earn it. Web 3.0 is that opportunity and it is never going to be a level playing field because people are all different. You, like me, are going to have to compete in the market in order to bring value, otherwise we will end up becoming charity cases, waiting on the "good graces" of others to provide the handouts. Those handouts aren't free, they come with the cost of supported slavery.

My first house was on the border between two suburbs, one quite affluent in comparison to the other. There was a large chain supermarket close by to both sides, but pretty much only the poorer people shopped there. Why? because the prices were more expensive. Why would poor people shop where it is more expensive? Because they mostly didn't have cars. This made them a "captive market" and they were reliable. The place was full come social security handout time.

Why do I tell this story? Because that supermarket is Facebook and Instagram and all the others who are effectively charging their users enormous prices to participate on their platform. It is free to walk in the store, but just like a casino, the house always wins.

Decentralized web 3.0 is different, you can build a home, your home is yours, you own it and, what you build and create is yours too. The house still wins, but you are the house - At least, you are a part-owner of the house.

The Inclusive Exclusive

Inclusion and exclusion are two sides of the same coin - you can't have one without the other. While some will argue that having an "entry fee" to ownership is exclusionary, what they fail to realize that not having an entry fee on Web 2.0 is exclusionary also, as it means that it is a "user ticket" and that excludes people from the profit model, a model that still leverages and extracts value from its users. The people who choose to take the free ride path, will eventually find themselves paying a hefty price as the current economic practices shift into the decentralized models that will replace them.

While imperfect in the early stages, the decentralized model increases in its ability to be inclusive the more people who start to use and leverage it for their various needs. As transactional mass and wealth starts to build on across the ecosystems, it is able to support more wealth to be generated and distributed across an increasing number of people. The centralized form is designed in the opposite path, where while more wealth is being generated, it is increasingly going to fewer pockets, moving at an increasing pace toward monopolization and inevitable collapse.

What this means is that while initially it seems exclusionary, the decentralized web 3.0 will become increasingly inclusionary as more people and business build their wealth models and homes on decentralized platforms and in Web 3.0 in general. They will hire more and, they will also be paying people in web 3.0 tokens, not in fiat and definitely not in mere stars and hearts.

Web 2.0 Slavemasters

You may think it is some time off, but once the wave into Web 3.0 begins, it is going to move rapidly and people are going to very quickly start making the switch. You might back Facebook and Google to come out the winners because of their size, but who they are winning is going to be the people who can't afford to go elsewhere, because they have been conditioned to believe, there is nowhere else to go.

The Exodus of Talent

"But, this is where my friends are."

For now.

But your friends are going to start moving if they can to places where they are able to access more value for their lives. In many ways, what is coming to the internet is going to look very much like the loss of talent a country may experience when they stop adequately rewarding them for their work. The "best and brightest" go where there is opportunity for them to shine and often, that is going to be where there is demand, and therefore reward, for what they can offer. We have seen this happen in finance over the last 40 years already, where the best mathematicians and statisticians, are creating algorithms and tools for trading mechanisms.

Web 3.0 is going to do this for almost every field and since the tokenization will increasingly shift into traditional industries, it is going to soak up talent like a sponge.

Are you going to be part of it?
Are you willing to pay the cost of entry?

There is always a cost to change and that means, there is always a trade of some kind in order to make it happen. This cost comes in many forms, but I think we all need to consider what the value of what we offer is, and whether we are getting adequately rewarded for it.

For me - Web 2.0 is a non-starter in the discussion of the future, as it has already lost, but it is so slow to understand and move, that it just hasn't realized it yet.

Back it at your own cost and be prepared to wear a loss.

Ever noticed how the people who tent to lose the most, can't afford to lose?

It is because they don't own a better option.

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta

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Hey buddy, how many hive punks did you get?

I grabbed 10. I didn't get anything rare :)

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Very good points and opened my mind to a wider view of this kind of platform. I agree with you, we deserve to get something more valuable and this is Web 3.
Probably I will need a few days, months or more time to understand everything that is included in your post and profits from Web 3
Thank you for your post, I like to read something that intelligent like this.

I hope it made some sense - I have had a "glass or two of wine" :)

First rule of Hive: Don't drink and Blockchain.

Probably I will need a few days, months or more time to understand everything that is included in your post and profits from Web 3

Depending on your background and willingness, it doesn't take "that long" to get up to speed, but in my experience, the fastest way is with some skin in the game.

Have a good weekend mate.

Reading your post was like around 20 years ago in the classroom at my university and listening to a professor. You know he is talking true, you understand what he is talking but also you know you need more knowledge to get all of this. That was your homework.

The Internet of the Poor has a lot to overcome in some very strange ways... I still come across this weird "bias" that people are SO CONDITIONED to their online experience being one of being "used" that when I talk about something like Hive, their default go-to is that "it must be a SCAM" because I am the one who gets paid, as opposed to they have to pay for the experience.

If you think about it, it's actually odd because lots of people monetize their YouTube channels and other venues... but somehow that's "more legit" because there's a central intermediary who makes money off even the monetized.

Even when I present Hive as "You can share content and in return you own STAKE in the platform," it is eyed with some suspicion because there's not a single "they" handing out stake.

The human psyche is a very strange thing...

=^..^=

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta

that people are SO CONDITIONED to their online experience being one of being "used" that when I talk about something like Hive, their default go-to is that "it must be a SCAM" because I am the one who gets paid, as opposed to they have to pay for the experience.

Yes, this is definitely part of it. They have also "drunk the coolaid" of the idea of the "free internet" without recognizing the costs they pay for it.

but somehow that's "more legit" because there's a central intermediary who makes money off even the monetized.

The "masster'sss favoritessssses" - masssster knowsss best.

it is eyed with some suspicion because there's not a single "they" handing out stake.

Yeah. "where does the value come from" is something they can't wrap their head around, as they are accustomed to it coming from the "top".

The human psyche is a very strange thing...

And interesting!

I will keep trying to bring in my friends who I want to interact with and know what I do on here. Didn’t have success in my most recent attempt, he never got back to me but I’ll try to just gently nudge him about it and the benefits, learning opportunities and people of hive are why it’s such an awesome place.

The house analogy was good. We can build the house as lavish as we want, by putting in maximum effort and trying to do as many things as we can, or we can be skimpy and just do the bare minimum. The good part about it is that you will get out of it what you put in, for the most part. If you put in good effort, posts, engagement and support of others you could very well be doing well in the long run. If you post and complain about how broken hive is, people suck and all that. Well you’re going to have a bad time.

One thing I also appreciate here versus Fakebook and their ilk is there is a lot of positivity and good vibes on here. Fakebook it’s all hate and division.

he never got back to me

Funny, isn't it. Sometimes I think they act like we are selling Amway.

If you post and complain about how broken hive is, people suck and all that. Well you’re going to have a bad time.

It ends up being a "birds of a feather" situation - so they feel supported. It is just that the support is coming from other unbanked complainers.

Fakebook it’s all hate and division.

Which is also why the people I speak of above, tend to do poorly. The other platforms incentivize and reward drama and hate for clicks. It doesn't work here.

Some people are cheap. They genuinely think that by using free stuff they are getting one over The Man. The same type of person is really into the idea of UBI, because in their quest for freebies, getting a lowish free income is "worth" many times an earned income four times as high.

They genuinely think that by using free stuff they are getting one over The Man.

No stick needed, just cardboard in the shape of carrots.

The same type of person is really into the idea of UBI, because in their quest for freebies, getting a lowish free income is "worth" many times an earned income four times as high

UBI is going to empower many, push many more into slavery. Though, it is likely needed in the interim, it has to evolve past that. How I see it, web 3.0 is the step beyond UBI.

I see the beginning of web 3.0 very much like the beginning of the internet. prior to the internet there were a loose collaboration of bulletin board operators. BBS'es, their are a few who remember. Then came the internet, Compuserve, Genie, and AOL. People paid, where BBS were free. Then the phone companies got in on the ground floor with web page hosting and pop e-mail hosting, for awhile there was a lot of expansion. Then came the downgrading and compression of limited service because money bought them out.

Place like Hive Block Chain are going to be hard pressed to be bought up and compressed, it can happen, but it will take time. Block Chain is more solid of a foundation than the BBS'es were, it is taking more time for the big immovable companies to ramp up, they are trying but I see the new re-branding of META and I see it will be a total failure. Mostly due to cost, to fully play and immerse in the METAverse is going to require you to buy a headset made by them and sold to you by them, and like the netscape microsoft browser wars, there will be the VR headset wars and of coarse since it is META's play ground they will win.

It is very much like as you explained. A lot of people think "this is all new" when the processes are similar to all new industries.

Facebook will win for a while, just as AOL did, and Yahoo and Netscape.

because they have been conditioned to believe, there is nowhere else to go

Goodbye FaceBook, Hello Hive

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta

At some point, FB is going to see a mass exodus of their previously best users. Why stay for nothing?

Before the exodus, the next platform which 'll going to onboard the "exodians" should be created. So far i don't see any proper alternative. I like the Hive ecosystem, but there are lack of features for a mass adoption in my opinion.

And web 3.0 internet for all

Well the question should be: are you able to pay the cost of the entry? Just as you mentioned there are people who don't have the option to do so... Everyone can participate and pay the entry fees with his time, but the big winners of this change 'll be the ones who have more than their time to participate with.

Generally, that is the case - yet, there are many people who have started from literally zero and built up quite a stack. I know more than several handfuls on Hive, myself included. There are opportunities everywhere, but the fact is that if they take work without guarantee of return, most will not take them.

I guess it depends on if they believe in it or not. A guarantee can surpass the not believing part, but without it only the believers left to participate.

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Web 3.0 all the way and a better choice

I am very happy with your post because your post contains a lot of knowledge, I will continue to read to increase my insight because I am a layman who is less capable in technology

Good to hear.

You're welcome

It is weird seeing your post with only 1 tag.

I only use twitter to share my hive posts. Facebook I basically abandoned entirely. My time is better spent here.

How do you think these platforms make money after all?

I was curious about this. I know that you can pay to make your posts more visible. But I did not imagine that people are doing this enough to keep platforms alive.

It is weird seeing your post with only 1 tag.

It was an accident :) For some reason, the other tags didn't hold.

I know that you can pay to make your posts more visible. But I did not imagine that people are doing this enough to keep platforms alive.

Advertising revenue. around 98% of Facebook and 85% of Google income is through paid advertising. They can charge so much because they can granularly identify and then target individuals and user groups easily. And as we have seen, swing elections whichever way they get paid to swing.

Why do I tell this story? Because that supermarket is Facebook and Instagram and all the others who are effectively charging their users enormous prices to participate on their platform. It is free to walk in the store, but just like a casino, the house always wins.

That is so realistic point .I was also poor in early 2004 ,walked to facebook supermarket but wasted my time untill i realised web 3.0 is exist .I am proudly enjoying the freedom and content ownership where no ads and censorship interfere to me.

Web 3.0 has lot more to empower the users in coming days where we govern our activities online ourselves .Metaverse is something like power rangers which will kick web 2.0 out of present trend soon.

I believe that more are going to make the shift in the coming years, if only to break their ties with the companies that are extracting wealth from them.

It almost criminal what these Big Tech companies make off users with the majority getting nothing in return. The more I think about it these days, the less I spend time on platforms not named Hive

Our data will be entirely encrypted and we will be able to access them in anywhere in the world. Facebook, Google and their friends will not be able to sell our data to generate money.

And in the centre, there will be blockchain and cryptos.