An internal note by Meta’s chief technology officer indicates that they aim towards having a “deep compatibility” with Blockchain moving forward
While the announcement of the Metaverse implies that the digital world may be soon facing a paradigm shift unseen since the rise of social media networks, an internal notice from chief executive Andrew Bosworth may imply that the Blockchain will be a pillar for the future of the internet
The internet, an invention that has often been compared in impact to the printing press on the whole of human society, is commonly believed to have gone through three specific iterations. Web 1.0, or the read-only web, was mainly used as a method of broadcasting information with little input from its users. Web 2.0, or the read-write web, allowed users to contribute their own content to the internet. This allowed it to explode in relevance through the democratization of content creation, leading to the internet as we know it today.
Finally, experts at the frontier of emerging technology are beginning to note that due to recent innovations such as the blockchain, we may be in the first stages of Web 3.0. While the definition of this yet emerging concept can be nebulous, we may very soon see the dawn of an internet where private ownership would set the stage for a decentralized network of the people and for the people.
This is where Meta, the leading force behind both the Metaverse and VR technology, comes in. In a note sent out by Meta’s Chief Technology Officer and acquired by the New York Times, Mr. Bosworth expanded on a vision where the nascent social network would be created in a way where it would be innately compatible with the emerging Blockchain. Within the note, he does urge caution and advise that they should not rely exclusively on Distributed Ledger Systems, saying that “there aren’t many places where I expect us to depend on it exclusively yet.”
This being said, he does argue that the technology has the potential to have “profound impacts on our industry over the next decade.” More so, he believes that the best path moving forward would be to work hand-in-hand with the crypto industry rather than to compete with them. He noted that “if we see an opportunity to work jointly with entrepreneurs in the web3 space I expect it will be worth the effort.”
Mr. Bosworth’s rank places him in charge of Meta’s projects based on AR and VR technologies, a position that he has used to advance the company’s work on NFTs as well as in investments pertaining to smart contracts, DAOs and internet-native communities internally coordinating through crypto tokens.
This note could not have happened at a more significant time as recent innovations have made even the titans of Big Tech tread carefully. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has shown a prominent reluctance to enter the crypto-space. In contrast, Meta has already begun to experiment with blockchain backed technologies. This included attempts to create a global digital currency for Facebook and Whatsapp networks. Perhaps giving credence to the thin ice underpinning this emerging sector, this project saw the departure of its project lead and a complete rebranding following pressure from regulators.
Sourced from the New York Times
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