I started working with the web in the late 90's and having a website was at all rage, everyone had to have one. It was a great time to do development, small and medium businesses could grow their online presence and turn a profit starting from zero. It was an inclusive web where everyone with a cool idea could start a business!
The free ride unfortunately did not last long, progressively and steadily web giants with funding behind human comprehension started to cannibalize the web as we know today. We are sadly left with one stop go for shopping on Amazon, one stop for booking holidays with Booking, one stop for social interaction with Facebook, one stop for search with Google. Sounds familiar?
Indeed there are smaller players that pop up now and then and either they have access to gargauntic funds to stay alive or they get acquired by one of the top companies above if not themselves replicate the business model and put them out of business.
The web was really not intended to be dominated by a few players (World Wide Web is called after all and certainly not FANG Web), Tim Berners-Lee know as the father of the web (HTTP protocol to be fair) has a shy net worth of 10 millions USD while the wild children of his technology are worth well beyond one-hundred-thousands times that!
Tides might be turning once again as more and more governament action is coming to the table to break down the superpower of today's tech giants. China has already started a heavy crackdown on its big tech players and a similar stance is to be expected from the western world. These companies have been outgrowing entire nations GDP and ammassed such fortunes that no competition or innovation can come out without being somewhat controlled or influenced by a large corporation.
Do not get me wrong, I am not of any particular political side or a debating type of guy I am just expressing common sense and trying to point out the need for a more inclusive web.
Blockchain technology is a promising piece of tech that is trying to bring the web back in the hands of the regular people just like you and me. You can follow more about it on my web3 project here.
Your web site and digital identity can connect to web3 services in ways we are just starting now to understand and put into use. Receiving payments on your site will be fast and cheap, if you have experienced any payment gateway you will agree how expensive and cumbersome it can be to start receiving money.
Your website can function as a bridge to a digital wallet which is the main tool that will allow such value transfers, you will not need a third party company to receive payments.
So after this long and kind of personal view of the web here is why would you need a website in 2021 and beyond!
Having your own identity online is a fundamental step into a more and more prominent digital world. Most of the jaggernaut platforms out there are here to stay and for quite some time still but some might also go out of business, aquired and changed or become less relevant. These platforms can change their policies, ban your page, deactivate your account for any reason beyond your control and at anytime.
Through your own web app / website you still have control over your identity while you can still connect to various platforms making easy to manage your content and products on the web.
Let me outline a few reasons why owning your own web presence is a smart investment.
Thank you for reading, stay beautiful.