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Are Tech Companies Limiting The Network Of The Web?

Whether or not we use it frequently, video chatting has become one of the most significant forms of communication with the development of the internet. The article, “A decentralized web would give power back to the people online” by Matthew Hodgson, outlines what you may not realize: communicating in this form requires using a platform powered by a company, ie Google, Microsoft or Apple. And, thus, we share our data with these companies in ways that we may not recognize. As the web is organized as a network, we find that millions of nodes of web pages originate from these same companies. This brings up an interesting point: the network of the web may not be as diverse as we may have once intended. Going back to the example of video chatting, three major platforms are the most effective mediums we use. The article argues that the web should have an objective medium through which we have complete control over, rather than giving companies access to our personal data in order to use their services.

If we mapped out the edges between a node of any particular tech company, the edges connecting them are more likely to be of the same company. And so, beyond the desire to find particular content, we may stay within clustered nodes in a network as companies own entire parts of the web and hold a powerful presence. With this power, companies have very easy access to data of users taking advantage of the network and this could be an issue in terms of privacy and security. The article outlines Facebook’s plan to restrain users’ access to services to external links within Facebook’s webpages. While the article states a solution known as the Decentralized Web, which provides users complete control and access to fundamental communication mediums and information, I must also pose a question: how limited and disconnected would the web become if companies continue to restrain access to services outside of their respective realms?

A decentralized web would give power back to the people online

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