Metaverse and Web 3 brands

Some terms like Metaverse and Web3 work like brands. They encapsulate complex ideas in one word. It helps to communicate faster. It also promotes those concepts. 

Zuckerberg did not invent the word Metaverse. Chris Dixon/A16z did not create Web3. However, they have made the term popular and more valuable. That is good for them and could also be for other people. Nothing wrong with that.

On the other hand, If those brands succeed, it will help the promoters. They act as tools for them. So, in a certain way, people who use those words back Zuck and Chris. Perhaps they are not aware of that. That is what makes some people feel uncomfortable.

Those brands are just one way to organize thoughts. You can talk about similar ideas in your way. You do not need to use those terms if you do not want to. They do not force you either. 

These are concepts in progress and mean different things for different people. What is relevant is the ideas that you want to convey. If you use those "brands," you limit yourself to what the promoters of the brand want. In some cases, that could be useful to communicate fast, but it also imposes many restrictions.

Much easier

When people talk about "metaverse," they often mean "virtual worlds." When they talk about "web3," it is about "decentralization". So, do we need metaverse and web3? Do they add much value? I am not sure. Perhaps the alternative is a more direct, simple, and straightforward way to communicate.

For Zuch and Chris, metaverse and web3 have more nuances than virtual worlds and decentralization. They express more things and details with one word. But for me, those brands are too generic and confusing by now. At the same time, they carry a lot of connotations from their promoters.

Background and clarifications

Mark Zuckerberg announced on October 2021 that he was creating a new company called Meta Platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. This fact has strengthened the word Metaverse. 

The term Metaverse has not been defined with precision yet. But, to simplify, I think it can be any virtual world. It is based on the interaction between different people, and it can live on the Internet or in the virtual worlds of virtual and augmented reality. 

The original term Metaverse was coined by novelist Neal Stephenson in the book Snow Crash.

On the other hand, Chris Dixon has often used and promoted the term Web3. Dixon is General Partner of the Venture Capital firm Andreessen Horovitz. 

Web3 or Web 3.0 refers to the third generation of the Internet in which the central element and differentiation is decentralization. In addition, the economy based on virtual currencies has a unique role to play. This contrasts with Web2 based on social media controlled by a few large corporations.

Gavin Wood, the co-founder of Ethereum and founder of Polkadot, first used the concept Web3 in 2014.