THE METAWEB IS WEB4
The Metaweb is the computational space above the webpage. Today's web is centralized in that the page author controls the experience. In the Metaweb, entirely new, decentralized experiences can be layered on top of web pages. Today's web pages then become the contextual footprint for worlds of "intertwingled" information, interactions, transactions, and experiences that emanate from content elements on the page.
~ Daveed Benjamin, inventor of Web4
The Metaweb emerges
The web has a big missing feature. That’s why it has massive problems that diminish its utility including fake news, privacy, security lapses, data exploitation, scams, catfishing and more. Some of these problems can be addressed to a certain extent with Web3 but Web3 can also be used to exacerbate them. The human-centric use of Web3 is necessary but not sufficient.
In 2012, the father of the browser, Marc Andreessen, said that annotation - the ability to layer knowledge on top of webpages - is the big missing feature of the web. Directionally he is correct, however, he was thinking too restrictive. Unequivocally, the big missing feature is the Metaweb.
The Metaweb is the space above the webpage. Today's web is centralized in that the page author controls the experience. If they allow comments, you can comment and they are likely to let it stand if it confirms their beliefs. In the Metaweb, entirely new and potentially decentralized experiences can be layered on top of content elements on webpages. We think the Metaweb will be acknowledged as Web4 in 2024. Stay tuned.