Even if you think you have nothing to do with blockchain, the new digital revolution is about to transform how you connect, communicate and share online.
You may not be aware of it, but In today’s internet all you really are is a dependant client being ‘fed’ information by central servers who… well, how shall we say it? don’t always have your best interests in mind. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. We’re all ‘slaves’ on the internet today, because of the way the network is structured. The good news is that the internet’s entire structure is now shifting beneath our fingers, opening up the possibility of change.
But let’s start at the beginning, because that’s really the key to understanding the hype around blockchain today. The internet was formed over two decades ago, when PCs were making their first steps and hand-held devices weren’t even in existence. Those days seem prehistoric now, but they continue to have a huge impact on our lives today because that’s when the internet’s current structure was formed.
The founders of our current internet (AKA web2.0) bypassed the problem of personal devices’ weak processing power by choosing a ‘Master-Slave’ network architecture (ironically also called a Server-Client layout) that relies heavily on powerful central servers (“Masters”) to perform all the management, control and data-processing operations to then ‘feed’ this chewed-up data to network “slaves” — the end-users apps and browsers. At the time, this was a revolutionary solution. The problem is that this underlying uneven distribution of influence in the network has remained the structure of our web to this day.
For common internet users, the internet’s ‘server-client’ architecture has meant that our entire online reality and communications have, in fact, always been mediated by a third party — the ‘servers’ who have acted as intermediaries between those sending information and those receiving it. This means that in today’s internet, we can’t really communicate and share information directly with one another, and most of our communication must go through central servers.
This structure has naturally led servers such as google and facebook to become immensely influential in their role as ‘data gatekeepers’. These central internet servers virtually control people’s access to information and have a huge influence over their decisions and worldview. In our modern world, where information means power, these servers have become immensely powerful players on the world stage.
“Now you better start swimmin’, or you’ll sink like a stone, for the times they are a-changin”
Our world has changed dramatically since the internet has first been developed. Our personal mobile-devices and laptops have since accumulated incredible data-processing and memory powers. They have grown wings, enabling them, and us, to take a much more active role in the evolving internet architecture.
We no longer have to rely on ‘servers’ to feed us with the information they choose to give us access to. Our personal devices now have the potential to share data directly with one another without depending on ‘information brokers’ such as Facebook and Google. The internet is ready for a revolution.
The development of Blockchain technology is transforming the potential for a more distributed P2P (Peer to Peer) web architecture into reality. This is much bigger than bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Blockchain technology means that we now have the capacity to move from the web 2.0 we have today, where all data and information are exchanged through central servers, to web 3.0 that enables us to communicate and share information and value directly with one another. Such a web will give us more control over the information we choose to access and exchange and give participants the tools to communicate and collaborate in ways that couldn’t be imagined even a decade ago (more about some of these amazing possibilities in my next article).
But how will our life be different with a more distributed web?
As the entire web is transforming to a distributed architecture, many industries formed and conditioned by the web 2.0 structure are adapting themselves to the new reality. We all witnessed the first wave of this trend. This wave includes centralised companies that enable semi-P2P solutions, like Uber, AirBnB, Fiverr and Upwork, which started to decentralise the transportation industry, the accommodation industry and the work industry, respectively. Yet these applications still operate via a central service.The second wave will probably give rise to applications that still use central nodes as key service providers, but not as sole providers that enable the app’s operation. These apps will basically utilise the blockchain as a distributed server and database, that is ultimately controlled by the people, for the people.
This signifies a major shift of power and influence in the digital realm. Whereas web 2.0 gave rise to a structure with very few powerful actors at the top controlling all information flow, web 3.0 will enable more distributed online interactions. In other words, today’s technological advances will transform the web’s infrastructure in a way that will democratize our access to information and to economic value, and enable more open and direct exchanges of information and value between users.
What does all this mean? Well, nature can give us a good clue of what we may expect. Beehives, ant colonies and neural networks are good examples of distributed systems of independent organisms in nature. Such systems give rise to incredibly complex and intelligent networks that are highly robust, scalable and adaptable. They can also give rise to something that is much more ‘magical’ — a type of system intelligence that is far greater than the sum of its parts. We’ve seen this happen time and again, emergent phenomena where by linking sentient entities together into a distributed network, a new, super-sentient entity emerges.
Distributed computer networks can offer similar advantages. Such systems are more robust than centralized systems, since they don’t have central servers that attract hackers and may turn into single points of failure. Distributed systems can also evolve and adapt to changing circumstances more easily, offering greater potential for adaptation, innovation and development.
At 2key, we invite you to join the revolution
At 2key, we’re building an entirely distributed network for referral sharing, we call it the 2key network. With blockchain technology, we saw an opportunity to decentralize and democratize the advertising world and give people back the power to share their opinion directly with one another about products, services and events and be rewarded directly for their proactive online behavior.
We designed the 2key Network to be especially accessible for the long tail of business (SMBs and solopreneurs), with zero implementation and integration requirements. So, for example, if a freelance designer would like to use her good reputation with her existing clients in order to attract new ones, she can simply ask and set a price for her “referral campaign.” The 2key network uses groundbreaking technology to automatically track and record every person along link-sharing chains and automatically reward each of them whenever a link brings to conversion. This breaks referral sharing free from the centralized online social platforms that control them today, rewarding directly those who contribute to spreading the message to the relevant target audience.
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