The Metaverse and Web3 as a milestone in the internet age
The question can be answered in several ways. In general, one can say that this is not entirely the case. The Metaverse will bring our digital everyday life into the third dimension, with the internet as a communication channel. However, it cannot be considered as an entirely independent service, but much more as a successor to the mobile internet as we know it today.
Although the Metaverse is now at the top of the digital trends, many still see it as a kind of virtual gaming platform. But unlike a video game, the Metaverse doesn't end when you exit it, it doesn't pause, and you can't restart it like a game. Rather, it is a new digital reality that continues to run just like our real life, similar to a virtual parallel world.
The Metaverse will be an extension of the mobile internet
With the rise of Web3, cryptocurrencies and NFTs, the Metaverse will have its own economy and currency. Metaverse projects can be centralized or decentralized depending on whether they are controlled by a company or, if the latter, exist freely based on blockchain technologies. Examples of centralized forms of the metaverse are those ideas from Facebook or Meta, decentralized projects are, for example, Decentraland or Sandbox. The Metaverse will not only be a new feature for the Internet application, it will combine aspects of real life with the digital content of the Internet.
At the moment there is still a need for explanation, since the concept of a virtual reality in the form of the metaverse is still new. However, for those who are still skeptical and don't see the potential behind it, look at archives from the 1990s which show that the vast majority of people already didn't believe in the concept of the Internet. But why was that? Very simple – lack of knowledge and information. If users had understood the possibilities behind it from the beginning, the Internet boom would probably have happened much earlier.
The Metaverse and the Internet combined will bring benefits: It is estimated that through the compatibility various networks and services in the metaverse, individual applications such as messaging apps such as Whatsapp or Zoom become obsolete. In the future, data from different providers should be able to be combined and exchanged more easily, and different logins and passwords may no longer be necessary. We're already partly in the Metaverse, but we'll likely have a full version of it sometime in the future. But developments in the direction of cryptocurrencies, which are already part of everyday life for many, and Web3 are already the beginning.
Digital shift towards virtuality and independence
Cryptocurrencies and the trend around NFTs show that we are currently in a transition towards virtual things. Gaming platforms like Roblox or Fortnite probably come closest to the concept of a metaverse. Although both were relatively unknown until a few years ago, millions of people can now be found among today's users of the gaming platforms. Web3 or Web 3.0 will also be continuously integrated into the development of the Metaverse. Web3.0 is a concept for the next generation of the Internet. The Internet that we use today is part of the Web 2.0 concept. It is mainly controlled centrally by large companies, which is what the decentralized Web 3.0 wants to move away from. The main idea behind it is the possibility for users to take control of their own works, digital content and above all digital possessions. If you think that the content you post on social media is yours, you are wrong. Behind Facebook or Instagram are companies that have the right to make decisions about content and what is censored and what is not. In Web 3.0, users can create, control, sell and own digital content using cryptocurrency and blockchains. These two components also enable trading of NFTs.
Metaverse is the future of the internet
The Metaverse and the Internet are not opposite terms. The former will be an extension and not a replacement of the latter. Nowadays there is a majority consensus that data and networks must merge and that better cooperation between digital and real content is required. While we're still in the early stages of the Metaverse concept, we've already gotten a good taste of what the future might look like. The Metaverse and Web3 will no doubt fundamentally change our lives.
