  This position paper explores how to support the Web's evolution through an
underlying data-centric approach that better matches the data-orientedness of
modern and emerging applications. We revisit the original vision of the Web as
a hypermedia system that supports document composability and application
interoperability via name-based data access. We propose the use of secure web
objects (SWO), a data-oriented communication approach that can reduce
complexity, centrality, and inefficiency, particularly for collaborative and
local-first applications, such as the Metaverse and other collaborative
applications. SWO are named, signed, application-defined objects that are
secured independently of their containers or communications channels, an
approach that leverages the results from over a decade-long data-centric
networking research. This approach does not require intermediation by
aggregators of identity, storage, and other services that are common today. We
present a brief design overview, illustrated through prototypes for two editors
of shared hypermedia documents: one for 3D and one for LaTeX. We also discuss
our findings and suggest a roadmap for future research.
