We can restore the web’s early promise

With the power of protocols

By Greg Kidd, co-founder and CEO of Hard Yaka

Three decades ago, network protocols—the common language of the internet—gave us the world wide web and with it the promise of self-empowerment, mutual understanding, and economic liberation.

That, of course, is not the way anyone would describe the web today. A small constellation of tech giants have come to dominate the web and made the term “Big Tech” an epithet for the left, the right, and virtually everyone in between. But the good news is that protocols can liberate us from that totalitarian web.

The beauty of protocols is that they are neutral. Internet protocols are a set of rules that govern the format of data sent over a network. HTTP, for instance, gave birth to the web browser. SMTP enabled email. DNS allowed us to type out “NYTimes.com” to read the news rather than a long string of numbers.

Yet if version 1 of the web in the 1990s was the wild west days of rugged individuals and free competition, what people came to call web2 saw the rise of walled castles controlled by a small cast of kings. Platforms replaced protocols as the web’s main building blocks. Meta’s Facebook or X (the former Twitter) own our output on their  sites. A company like apple controls something as fundamental as the private messages we share through the service that connects its brand of devices.

That’s why many of us are advocating for the decentralized web, a vision of the internet that can return power to users. Unfortunately, media accounts have focused on the highs and lows of the loaded term, web3, but the promise and potential of the decentralized web doesn’t require Bitcoin or, for that matter, a cryptocurrency at all.

In the same way protocols enabled the birth of the internet in the 1990s, they can return us to an environment of open and free competition that has users feeling empowered rather than powerless, and more in control of their own data and identities. With the decentralized web, essential aspects of life can be seamlessly integrated into the digital realm via easy-to-use administrative processes that respect individual security, privacy, and personal sovereignty. People could securely vote online, for example, or renew their driver’s license without a trip to the DMV. Social media can be reimagined.

Below are five categories of protocols already in place that, if more widely adopted, would deliver an online experience that better matches the early promise of the internet. Each in itself represents progress. Together, they would truly disrupt the current kings who dominate virtually every aspect of online life, from search to social to commerce.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA

Platforms succeeded because they delivered convenience and a better user experience. Yet they also required individuals to sacrifice control and autonomy—a tradeoff many users no longer see as a good deal. Today’s world feels more fractured and polarized, not despite the internet but largely because of it. Look no further than Elon Musk’s X.

Today, open protocols make possible social media efforts such as Nostr and BlueSky that puts users—rather than a single corporate entity—in charge of what they choose to share online. Using open protocols, no one needs to ask permission to own what is rightfully theirs, whether it’s followers and posts on a social network or the credentials they’ve earned over time.

Consider Airbnb superhosts who’ve earned their identity through hard work. Today, that reputation exists only within Airbnb’s private domain. Yet with open protocols, a user would be able to bring their reviews with them if they chose to establish themselves at another site. One’s identity is truly portable and not controlled by a corporation, government, or some other gatekeeper.

2. IDENTITY

Just as we have a protocol for website domains, individuals need a protocol for establishing our unique identities. Right now, we must prove our identity every time we join a new community or make a simple purchase at an online shop. The lack of a universal identity makes it harder for people to find one another online. It also means we as individuals don’t control our own identities.

Today’s technology can provide every individual a unique public-private key, serving as their distinct identity as they move across the web. This key is the cornerstone of a decentralized web that puts the user in charge. They each own their own bundle of sticks (their reputation, their content, whatever they choose to attach to their identity), independent of the domains they visit.

3. VERIFIABLE CREDENTIALS

A unique identity is one key building block for a decentralized web. Verifiable credentials are another. A verifiable credential could mean anything from a driver’s license to a diploma or credit card, issued by trusted institutions like governments or schools or banks. 

Decentralized identifiers (DIDs) are now emerging as a standard, which are unique identifiers created and controlled by the owner without the need for constant confirmation by a central authority. These credentials, once verified using existing protocols, become an integral part of a person’s online identity.

4. OPEN MESSAGING

These days, a typical user employs a basket of messaging systems, from WhatsApp to iMessage to Telegram, to stay in touch with friends and family. As an alternative, they could use an open-source protocol called Matrix. With Matrix, a person can consolidate their communications in a single place. Choose your go-to messaging app and seamlessly communicate with people across networks.

5. TOKENIZED MONEY

Platforms and existing networks still control the world’s payment rails. Visa, for instance, charges fees as high as 3.5 percent for digital payments. Using Apple’s payment rails means the company can charge a developer 30 percent for the right to use their app store.

Yet tokenized money, governed by blockchain technology and smart contracts reduce the cost of those transactions to near zero. And it doesn’t necessarily mean relying on a crypto asset such as Bitcoin that operates outside the existing banking system. Today, it’s possible to have compliant stablecoins that can exist both in the traditional world of banking as well as the new world of decentralized finance.

Reviving the promise

This last chapter of the web has given the world a taste of the possible—while also teaching us quite a few lessons. A web dominated by platforms ultimately needs to be a stepping stone rather than a long-term destination.

These technologies and protocols can enable us to rethink and rebuild the internet—one that gives power back to users and developers alike, allowing us to truly deliver on the promise of the web as imagined the 1990s.