What Is Web3Tube?

There are many different ways to approach the question ‘what is Web3Tube?’, mainly because answering that question means addressing broader ideas as to what Web 3 is in the first place.

To put it as simply as possible:

Web3Tube is a decentralised streaming platform. It will be hosted by AuroraFS, a blockchain based, high-performance global peer-to-peer file system with authorised access control.

But, wait. While that technically answers the question, there are still a lot of details that need to be filled in. Let’s take the above sentence and dissect it so we can gain a better understanding of what Web3Tube means for the internet at large.

What is Web 3.0?

“Web 3.0” is a term that represents what many believe will be the next major evolution of the internet, relating to the decentralised nature of data that is hosted online.

For contrast:

• Web 1.0 consisted of read only information that was hosted by companies and organisations for internet users to consume.
• Web 2.0 emphasised user generated content such as social media, apps, blogs, podcasts, videos, etc. However, that content is still stored on infrastructure that is owned and controlled by corporations and organisations
• Web 3.0 defines a major departure from Web 2.0 in which users can host their own content using decentralised methods such as blockchain encryption or distributed computing. Instead of relying on third-party company infrastructure, blockchain users collectively host content themselves.

What’s important to note is that Web 3.0 still has yet to materialise and is very much in a conceptual phase. Right now, the most fully realised example of a Web 3.0 solution would be cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, which allow for decentralised finance through smart contracts.

But, what about Web3Tube?

Now that we have established what Web 3.0 is, we have laid the foundation for an informed discussion on what Web3Tube is. Let’s address some of the more frequently asked questions surrounding Web3Tube.

How is Web3Tube going to work?

The answer is similar to a lot of Web 2.0 video hosting platforms, such as YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, etc. Users create and upload their content to curated channels that others can access and consume, as well as subscribe to and interact with in the form of comments and likes.

Users log into Web3Tube via their blockchain wallet addresses. This is important because users can monetise their videos however they see fit, with payments being facilitated directly through the blockchain.

Why does Web3Tube need to exist?

Now that we are at the tail-end of Web 2.0, companies and organisations have asserted what many believe to be an excessive amount of control over the content that they have accumulated.

The biggest and most accessible example of this is YouTube, which has been accused of many anti-creative practices, such as;

• Relying on an algorithm to regulate their content which has resulted in many videos getting demonetised or censored based on false copyright grounds
• Constantly changing their terms and services, forcing regular content creators to adapt to poorly defined rules
• Prioritising advertisers over content creators, allowing companies to abuse creators with false copyright claims
• Being so poorly regulated that predatory creators are able to take advantage of the system’s rules to silence critics and even threaten their source of income

However, because YouTube has such a strong monopoly on video hosting, and it hosts the content of all of its users on Google’s infrastructure, video creators are forced to grin and bear this supposedly antagonistic behaviour.

Web3Tube is a solution to this for many reasons:

• Because it is hosted on a decentralised P2P network, it isn’t controlled by a third-party organisation and therefore beholden to their priorities
• Because users aren’t threatened by potential censorship or demonetisation, they have more creative freedom and control over their content
• Advertisers and sponsors have no control over the platform as a whole, and therefore must deal with creatives directly. This evens the playing field and means that advertisers can’t assert control the way they did with YouTube.

Where can I learn more about Web3Tube?

Coinpedia.org has a comprehensive article on Web3Tube that goes into much greater technical details. If you’d like a more in-depth look at how Web3Tube is going to function from a software, networking and database management perspective, this is what we would recommend you read.

• Category: Blockchain