Fediverse might be Web4 in situations where it makes sense to highlight technological evolutionary iterations of the web. And if you consider Web3 to be the (failed) Semantic Web - where the 3.0 was first introduced - then it makes sense too. The Fediverse is then the Social (Semantic) Web, as it based on Linked Data open standards (ActivityStreams / ActivityPub). But in doing so you also needlessly set yourself up for techno-ideological ‘warfare’ to claim that turf. It can be useful. It can be logical. But I wonder if it is worth the fight.

Web0, introduced by Aral Balkan in reaction to Web3’s ‘blockchain-override’, is also putting emphasis on a technical characteristic. But along a different dimension than evolutionary versioning, namely “web made simple again” and hence for everyone (note: simple != easy).

Peopleverse is yet another dimension: the human aspect. It is a ‘unique selling point’ and almost unclaimed space in the corporate onslaught that the normal web has become. And certainly wrt what the Metaverse aims to be… some cyberpunk corporate-controlled world. No, thank you :)

The most important thing we have on the Fediverse, imho, is our culture. And that culture is determined by everyone’s interaction. I tooted about this this morning in reaction to something I wrote on Fediverse Town:

Be careful what you preach. Those promoting the #Fediverse to the world beyond should be well aware that that the current culture spun up by all fedizens together, are what makes fedi such a worthwhile place to be.

And that this culture is the primary ‘weapon’ in fending off unwanted forces. How we build and integrate our apps is important too, but only in a supportive manner.

Protecting and fostering our culture collaboratively is key to Fediverse’s health and future.

There will be challenges to the Fediverse to overcome in the future, and I feel that for the most part that ‘versioning the web’ will play at best only a minor role in solving them :)