We live in an era where search and SNS centered on smartphones are nearing completion, and new business models are needed.
We spoke to Toshihisa Sasaki, who is active as a freelance journalist and has written numerous books such as ``Will Web3 and the Metaverse Free Humans?'' about his thoughts on Web3.0 and his future prospects.
What is the concept of Web3/Web3.0 that Mr. Sasaki thinks about?
Sasaki: As I wrote in ``Will Web3 and the Metaverse Free Humans?'' published late last year, there is a discussion of ``centralization'' and ``decentralization.''
Originally, the Internet started around 1995. Still, nearly 30 years have passed, but there was a major paradigm shift and turning point around 2006 and 2007. Around this time, the term ``Web 2.0'' came out.
So, what was "Web 1.0" up until then? After all, even with the advent of the Internet, this interactivity did not suddenly emerge. In other words, in the old, early days of the Internet, it was not a situation in which any individual could freely post information.
Although it was possible to create a homepage by oneself, it required a certain level of skill, and in this situation, SNS and blogging services appeared, and anyone could now easily and freely publish information. I think the term ``Web 2.0'' was used in that sense.
The era before the Internet was a centralized era in which information was monopolized by television and newspapers, but in the era of Web 2.0, information was available freely and openly. The era of centralization has arrived.
People said at the time that it was a good thing, but I thought that this free, decentralized era would last forever, but it wasn't.
From around the latter half of the 2010s, platforms such as SNS and blogs, so-called ``big tech'' companies such as ``GAFAM'' in Japan, became increasingly powerful, and centralization once again progressed.
Another reason behind this is the spread of AI. AI has evolved at a tremendous pace and has acquired the ability of ``deep learning,'' which has further strengthened the control power of large corporations known as ``optimization.''
Due to excessive centralization, Big Tech is now being criticized for being ``surveillance capitalism''.
In this situation, a technology called ``blockchain'' has just appeared. Blockchain is a system in which no one has a monopoly on information, but information is scattered everywhere and shared by everyone.
The idea that blockchain could be used to break away from the complete domination of Big Tech and create a new decentralized world has been gaining momentum. I think it's "Web3".
I think this is the general understanding, but personally I have doubts as to whether blockchain can create a completely decentralized world.
Even though it's a blockchain, it doesn't mean everyone is equal; for example, even with Bitcoin, a huge company is needed to act as an exchange.
If that happens, there is no doubt that the companies on that exchange will become bigger and bigger, and that company will become the next big tech. My personal belief is that centralization will never disappear after all.
