Predictions On The Evolving Web In 2022
I thought it would be fun to make some predictions on how the web will continue to evolve in 2022. Web 3, crypto, and the metaverse are all visions of a future web, and this coming year has potential for explosive innovation in each of these categories.
Personally, I like to think of web 3 as the foundation for the new web, and crypto and the metaverse as web 3 components — crypto being the currency and the metaverse being a new experience layer.
The following are some predictions that come to mind…
Big Tech will begin to utilize web 3
While we will continue to see an explosion of web 3 native applications in 2022, Big Tech companies will start to integrate web 3 trends into their web 2 platforms. For example, Instagram is already working on bringing NFTs into the mix. TikTok started flirting with NFTs via TikTok moments, and it’s not unimaginable that Amazon creates a marketplace for NFTs. Shopify is not considered big tech, but an example of a web 2 platform that is now offering NFT drops.
Web 3 purists will hate the idea of Big Tech utilizing web 3 tech, but Big Tech has the funds, and they will not sit back and allow startups to take over the web. Kingdoms don’t fall easy, expect big tech to transition services to web 3 over time.
Meta (formerly Facebook) has already jumped on the metaverse, positioning themselves as leaders in the space. They have the hardware and the marketplace, but it remains to be seen if Meta is really interested in an ‘open’ metaverse. In 2022, Meta will ramp up marketing Oculus Quest headsets(soon to be Meta headsets) into the mainstream and will likely acquire and partner with various VR companies and tech to strengthen the brand.
Metaverse 1.0
In 2022, we will see many different iterations of the metaverse — from gaming platforms, social, entertainment and education. This will be a year of exploration, a discovery phase for metaverse companies to figure out which demographics of consumers will embrace VR/AR.
But this will not be the year of connected metaverses or interoperability, instead we will have worlds with separate identities and separate avatars. It will be a competitive year for metaverse development from many different media companies lobbying for mainstream acceptance.
Music NFTs
While 2021 was the year of the art NFTs highlighted by Beeple’s famous auction, the time is ripe for musicians to take the NFT stage. An industry full of gatekeepers and middlemen, delivered through streaming services that control the algorithms, its time for musicians to take ownership of their craft — and NFTs and Social Tokens are the economic tools to make that happen.
Not only NFTs, but social tokens, DAOs, marketplaces, fan clubs, will all derive from an ownership creator-centric music model. Check out Water & Music for updated news in this area, and Audius as an example of a service that will likely disrupt the streaming business.
Smart Glasses
All the hype suggests that Apple will be releasing new augmented reality glasses in 2022 which will give way for AR in the mainstream. while 2022 will see the arrival of many new smart glasses, you can expect that Apple will have the biggest impact.
How fast these glasses would be adopted in 2022 is uncertain, but this will be the year that smart glasses hit the mainstream market. What this means for the metaverse is that the hardware will finally start to be available to allow for widespread AR/VR adoption. We need market competition in the hardware space for a thriving metaverse, and 2022 will be the beginning of that journey.
Blockchain Scalability Architecture
For Web 3 to reach mass adoption, blockchain technology must adapt to be scalable. Right now there are an estimated 1.1 million transactions on Ethereum daily, but that is not going to be enough. We will need a series of specialized blockchains that tailor particular categories of applications — such as DeSo which is a new blockchain for decentralized Social applications.
2022 promises continued rapid development on blockchain strategies and hybrid on-chain/off-chain models to help scale for mass adoption.
Terminology Shifts transitioning to web 3
As web 3 continues to expand, We will start to see new terminology and mental model shifts in 2022.
Online > OnChain
Being online is ubiquitous nowadays, we are simply always connected, but the web 3 aspect of being online is connecting to portals that surface crypto or specific data on blockchains.
Platforms > Portals
web 3 apps function as portals rather than platforms. The data is not centralized in a platform database but rather in a decentralized database. Hence, the platform user experience is a portal to the blockchain.
User IDs > Wallets
Logging into systems will eventually not be system specific user logins, but connecting via wallets, that serve as interoperable IDs — currently today wallets connect to dApps.
Communities > DAOs
Online communities will give way to real economic value, and saying you are part of a DAO will be synonymous to saying you are part of an online community with a mission.
In Conclusion
In 2022, we will continue to see a flurry of exciting innovations that will transition the web from an internet of information exchange to an internet of value exchange. There will be growing pains and failed experiments, as well as unexpected surprises. All in all, we will collectively be moving the web forward to new frontiers.
