Decentralization is an ambitious undertaking of Web3.
Is it set up to succeed? Decentralization and Web3 are intertwined concepts. Understanding what decentralization is will guide our understanding and exploration of Web3.0 fundamentals that various protocols and applications can supposedly fulfill.
Understanding decentralization will help you evaluate different Web3 components, such as:
- cryptocurrency,
- DeFi (decentralized finance),
- NFTs
- DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations,
are trying to fundamentally model.
(Decentralization is even built into the name of some of these!)
What is Decentralization?
A visual way that I think of decentralization is like the vector outline of a circle. All the points lie next to each other, equally far from the center. No point on the outline of a circle has a larger pull than the other, otherwise, it would mess up the geometry of the circle and make it inherently not a circle anymore.
Now let’s take a look at some actual definitions of decentralization, first in general terms, and then more specifically in how it applies to Web 3.0 infrastructure.
According to Merriam-Webster, decentralization is defined generally as:
“the dispersion or distribution of functions and powers”
and in the study of sociology as:
“the redistribution of population and industry from urban centers to outlying areas.”
Wikipedia defines decentralization as:
“the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group.”
It notes that the definition is applied to management science, group dynamics, political science, economics, money, and technology.
I was surprised to find that the definition of decentralization is not a purely technical term and a surprisingly interactional one. I guess I’ve had too many associations with charts mapping out decentralization theories in economics (which frequently pertain to welfare and political incentives).
A brief history of the word?
It came into use in France after the 1820s revolution.
The aristocrat and politician Tocqueville wrote that the French Revolution began with a push towards decentralization but ultimately became an extension of centralization.
Interesting…
What is the Concept of Decentralization?
Decentralization aims to disperse responsibility from concentrated areas of power and creates more widespread decision-making power.
Decentralization ultimately promotes democratic systems…and democratic systems hopefully promote decentralization.
They are mutually enforcing in most senses- decentralization is increasingly seen as a fundamental democratic principle.
According to Frank Holmes in a recent Forbes article, decentralization has empirically led to more effective and prolific economies and lifestyles, as opposed to centralized countries like Russia and China.
That’s a win for decentralization!
What are some easy to grasp examples of decentralization before we jump into Web3?
America was founded on concepts of decentralization, with pieces of our federal constitution established to protect individual liberties and freedoms (such as freedom of speech) that the government could not take away.
America also functions with checks and balances that separates power from building up solely in the decision-making right of a single government branch.
Corporate franchise organizations such as McDonalds provide another example of a somewhat decentralized system.
It’s not a perfectly decentralized system because the company (McDonalds) still owns a majority of the decision-making, but it allows franchise owners a larger amount of independence than other corporate structures.
A Quick Crash Course on Internet History, from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 to Web 3.0
Let’s link the concept of decentralization to the internet.
Web 1.0 (circa 1989) was created using static HTML web pages with typically non-interactive data and landing pages. This created an (albeit very revolutionary) consumption-style interaction with the internet and information exchange.
Envision clunky 1980s Mac Computers the size of small suitcases feeding knowledge through a pixelated and not very visually appealing screen.
Web 2.0 was created in the 2000s and lit aflame by socially-driven networks and companies like Facebook and Google. It’s the interactive, multi-user-created internet beast that we now use daily, We check our global news on Twitter, post photos of our morning lattes on Instagram, and discover new critters on TikTok.
Our current internet is mainly driven by capitalistic motives, although there are a variety of crowd-funded public resources like Wikipedia and Reddit. (I’m not sure if Reddit counts actually. Please feel free to correct me in the comments.)
Now let’s welcome Web 3.0! (Which btw, is technically not the same as Web3, even though they pretty much look the same.)
Web 3.0 was designed to address some of the issues in our current internet.
We can all agree there are many. For example, capitalist monsters recklessly use our data and take paycheck cuts that are arguably not proportional to their actual contributions.
How do blockchain and Web3 build upon the concept of decentralization?
Web3 aims to create a decentralized, collaborative internet landscape by building on blockchain infrastructure.
Code encrypted on the blockchain is permanent, open to the public, and can’t be deleted. This ensures transparency.
Blockchain is the omnipresent, entirely objective technological messiah. It is decentralized yet secure.
Blockchain is “open, trustless, and permissionless.”
Repeat after me my friend, open, trustless, permissionless.
Even better! Let’s turn it into a mnemonic since that’s how humans best remember things.
Blockchain is “T.O.P.”- trustless, open, permissionless.
Blockchain 🔝.
Blockchain is an inherently decentralized machine that deploys smart contracts. There’s a lot to unpack here, but we won’t go into the technical configuration of blockchain infrastructure in this post.
The most widely used blockchain project is Ethereum.
We’ll cover blockchain more in-depth in the future. It requires some more digging into, especially for those of you with a non-technical background like myself.
Comparing Web3 to our current internet
No more greedy entities swivel chairing in their lairs, stirring their web of data, choosing which bits to use or which to hide, and converting our internet usage and screen time into their direct earnings.
Instead, advancements in AI lead to this new vision: a machine, reading machine-readable internet data in a clear glass cube display that anyone can go see at work at any time. And we co-exist peacefully and democratically alongside this nonbiased technology.
If you have more analogies that can help conceptualize this concept, please let me know and I’ll add them to this article.
One last mind-boggling definition important to Web 3.0 decentralization before we close off today’s topic.
What is the Semantic Web?
The Semantic Web utilizes a machine-based understanding of data, which structurally creates a more autonomous, open, and intelligent internet. Instead of humans cherry-picking data, we give the power of the data to data-learning machines!
“I have a dream for the Web in which computers become capable of analyzing all the data on the Web — the content, links, and transactions between people and computers.”
Tim Berners Lee – the inventor of the World Wide Web
(Important note for my non-techies: We don’t currently have a semantic web, unfortunately. It is still a vision being built and doesn’t exist in its full form. Just wanted to clarify!)
Semantic Web + artificial-intelligence + the blockchain = a more decentralized era of the internet!
So now we have all the building blocks to understand what goes into making Web3 decentralized.
The centralized social networks of our current internet (Mark Zuckerberg owns your Instagram Data, some entity of China owns your TikTok video, etc.) will evolve into decentralized apps (dApps) built on Web 3.0 allowing individuals to maintain data ownership.
Smart Minds Guided by an Equitable Constitution – Sounds like a Great Starting Point!
Just like Web 2.0 (our current internet), there is no ruling president with a guiding wand overseeing the internet. Web 3.0, like Web 2.0, is built similarly by separate organizations, individuals, and foundations. But I think the cool part is that there’s at least some sort of constitutional benchmark that these entities are built on- which is decentralization! That’s pretty awesome.
United we stand.
Is Web3 truly decentralized?
That’s a great question- the natural progression of this thought that we’re on.
Decentralization is, for the most part, an ideology and not a natural law. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen play out, it’s not even an inclination in many cases, especially when it comes to power systems.
Upon further research on this topic, I stumbled upon an article on CMSWire where Matt Biilman shared that our current Web 2.0 internet also started as a decentralized system.
It was based on DNS and for my non-techies out there, basically, the concept that anyone can buy and own a web domain and all the underlying data. In practice, we saw Web 2.0 churn out huge tech data-oligarchies that were much more efficient at engineering and gathering user interest.
For a much more qualified opinion on this space, you can read an So far, here’s how current components of Web3 closely model the concept of decentralization.
As Web 3 essentially relies on peer-to-peer networks where users are active contributors and constitution shapers, I believe it’s a critical application of technology and coding. This is why the learning curve is definitely higher for curious people with a limited or no-tech background. Btw, which is also why WEB3PEEPLES exists! Sign up for our newsletter for awesome, non-spammy monthly bits of knowledge. All in all, I think it’s great overall that Web 3.0 is built upon a decentralized ideal, and that most people and developments in the space are conscious of evaluating this as they build out their various projects. Of course, you have the exceptions, but hopefully, as security and knowledge become more widespread, it will be easier to differentiate and support true Web3.0 ideologists versus those looking to make a quick criminal buck. What is Web 3.0: A beginner’s guide to the decentralized internet of the futureAnd Here’s Why it’s Important for You to Learn About Web3
In the meantime, it’s also an important reminder to navigate this space carefully. Protect your security (wallet addresses and information shared online) as it is still a nascent and explorative space with no true regulating body.Further reading on decentralization and Web3:
