# The Web We Own

In the beginning, the web was `read-only`. The sites were static, and were built for niche communities. The interaction between the client and server, was purely passive consumption.

When the web became mainstream, user interactions shifted from `read-only` to `read-write`.  
The driver behind this change was technological innovation, a desire to connect through media on user-generated content, and a need for platforms to carry out effective, targeted advertising through the digital space.  
The second iteration of the web rewired the social fabric in ways that changed how we perceive ourselves, access information, form relationships, and engage with our communities.  
Because of this, information and payment infrastructure became centralised, and the resulting censorship became too much to ignore. Also, an emergence of a vaporware economy in which creators had no true ownership of their products, audience, and distribution networks meant that the time to re-weave the web had come.

Web3 is a philosophical and technological response to the flaws of Web2. It is the third iteration of the web through which users own their data, identity, and digital assets. This is made possible by building the web on distributed ledgers called `blockchains`.