Popped to London last week for Agencynomics’ Big Event 2022, where talk was all about introducing agencies to Web3 and the Metaverse. Those are obvioulsy big topics to cover in one day, but it’s always good to hear from the experts. In the end, I managed to come away with a slightly better understanding of what it all means for businesses.
For starters, nobody knows for sure where it’s all leading us. And according to Kathryn Strachan (Copy House) now’s the time to ask the silly questions.
So what the… flippedy-flip is Web3?
According to Comparative Linguistics’ Tom Head, Web3 (you might see it called Web 3.0) is the upcoming third iteration of the internet. It builds on the first two iterations:
- Web1 (1991-2004) was all static, read-only HTML web pages full of disparate, unconnected and decentralized content
- Web2 (2004-now) is interactive and social. Content creation got easier, but ultimately it’s all owned by a handful of huge companies
- Web3 is decentralised, giving creator-owners more say in what happens to their assets and data (and more opportunities to be compensated fairly for them)
Or at least that’s the idealistic vision right now. Web3 uses a lot of jargon-laden technologies which, we hope, will become more transparent with time. Right now, you mostly need to know about three of them:
- Digital assets and tokens which verify ownership of digital items (NFTs and cryptocurrency mostly)
- Smart contracts governed by decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs)
- Blockchain, used as a public ledger of transactions
Web3 is expected to form the tech basis for the Metaverse. Which brings us to…
What exactly is the Metaverse?
Ever seen Ready Player One? Or Lawnmower Man? Or any film where the internet meets virtual reality? That’s the Metaverse. With Web3, it’s possible to start integrating more immersive VR experiences into our everyday online lives.
Tom Head called it “the internet on psychedelics.” Ben Fryer of Diverse Interactive was slightly more reserved when he described it as “the spatial internet.” He explained the Metaverse was already here for younger people, in a sense, with games like Minecraft, Fortnite and Roblox.
You don’t need to be wearing a VR headset to enjoy Metaverse technologies. In a way, it’s simply the experience interface for Web3 and that can work on PC and mobile if needed. It’s all certainly a lot bigger than Facebook’s attempt to position themselves as an early market leader.
Why should businesses care about Web3 and the Metaverse?
Money. Citi expects the Metaverse economy to be worth $13 trillion by 2030. 85% of ecommerce, marketing and IT business leaders say a Metaverse presence will be essential within the next two years. 87% say the same about Web3 technologies.
This isn’t entirely speculation either. A lot is happening right now. Nike have had 21 million visitors to their virtual Roblox store and they’ve already made $185 million in NFT sales. That consists of direct sales revenue, plus royalty fees every time an NFT is sold on.
Even if it’s not driving profit directly, the Metaverse might offer other benefits. Education and training can be delivered anywhere in the world.
What were my takeaways from Agencynomics’ Big Event?
I don’t claim to fully understand Web3 after one conference, I may never fully understand it. But I didn’t really understand MS DOS or HTML coding either. If we try not to get bogged down in the technology, there’s a promising picture emerging.
A quick brainstorm throws up all sorts of ways we can use Web3 to solve today’s challenges. Decentralisation and transparency let users take control of their personal information. That could have big implications for healthcare and finance spaces.
Now is also a very interesting time to be involved. The goal and central premise of Web3 is to take ownership back from huge companies. But that won’t happen in practice unless we fight for it.
Groups like Women of Web3 are pushing for gender representation. It’ll be interesting to see similar pressure movements emerge to focus on decentralisation. At this point we don’t even know if there’ll be one main Metaverse or a network of several. It’s all still to play for.
People seem to be pointing to 2030 as the stage at which the Metaverse becomes officially part of our lives. That should give us plenty of time to think about how these technologies can benefit clients.
We’ve set ourselves homework to experiment with transactions using NFTs, crypto and digital wallets. We’ll also be spending time playing with platforms like Decentraland, Sandbox and Revoult. In the meantime, I have to close by shouting out my favourite speakers from the event:
Until next year, we’ll catch you in the Metaverse!