People always say, going digital is the future, but no one ever informed me earlier that it would be a bit overwhelming, interesting, confusing and at the same time empowers all along. Web 3 did not just find its way into my life making noise, it found it way into my life with some skepticism wrapped around it, with a bit of curiosity and it came quietly.
It was a common thing back then like a fast spreading news, but around 2016, just like a whisper between two people communicating, that was when I got to hear about "Bitcoin", they said it was not legit and it is being used by hackers and that it was being used as a cryptocurrency internet scam for money laundry. And exactly like people spread false new about finance system, I just waved past it and ignored by not showing interest, which was a very big mistake on my path.
Officially, as far back as 2017, towards the second quarter of the year, I officially began my journey into the world of Web 3 after I got to know about a Blockchain platform known as Steemit where you can write and earn in cryptocurrency. It felt strange to me at first because I was like what sort of cryptocurrency combined with hybrid blogging combined with different communities is this. At first, I was unable to decode it, but one thing I loved about it is that you have ownership of your account which is what traditional media does not have. The more I got engaged with it, overtime, the more I learnt how much values it gives, the freedom that comes with it, the global connection that is there and how innovative it made me.
Of course, I encountered a lot of technical jargon, roadblocks which were like climbing the mountain. From staking, to powering up, voting, wallets, all sorts of keys (private, public...), Dapps, NFTs, DeFi. To be sincere, all these were overwhelming but I got adapted. I sent a token to the wrong address which was gone for for life because it can not be recovered. I joined different signal groups, some were real some were fake. I wanted to give up, I took a pause but I never allowed that to break me.
One of the things that kept me going was some of the connections I made, genuine people who I met In version communities willing to help you navigate through things that I was finding so difficult especially here on Hive. From seeing Devs creating easy fonts interface for users, seeing how some of the witnesses are supporting content creators down to how community members have been helping eachother in a transparent way. That lit something inside me.
Now, I admire the ethos of empowerment that we all now enjoy through Web especially the DeFi projects, Gaming and let me say NFT curation. That is a very big empowerment that has allowed we the users to have a voice, share our value and have access to our data.
And for all the JJC who are still breastfeeding, I'll say that this can be overwhelming and confusing, but you have to stay and not fold. Ask for help where you need help, stay curious and where you need more clarifications, do not hesitate to ask bothering questions.
Web 3 is all about not giving up but showing up constantly, because this space is for builders, people who are ready to learn, and thinkers.
Web 3 is not all about knowing everything at once, but gradually.
Thank for reading.
Images created by MetaAi
