Web 3, also known as Web 3.0, is a term that has been used around lately, especially in the crypto world. It promises a decentralized internet built on the blockchain and aims to minimize the dependency on large tech companies like Amazon, YouTube, and Netflix.
This begs the question: What is Web 3, and why is everyone talking about it? We have compiled everything you need to know about Web 3.
What is Web 3?
To understand Web 3, you have to understand the history of the internet. In the late 90s, Web 1 was developed, and it included a collection of homepages and links. The websites of the 1990s were not particularly interactive. You could only read and publish content for others to read.
Later on, Web 2.0 came up. It consequently brought the rise of e-commerce social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Internet users could interact via online platforms and create their content. Web 2.0 initiated the growth of smartphones and cloud computing.
Web 2.0 was coined between 1999 and 2004, and it moved the internet from static desktop web pages to user-generated content. It was driven by three core layers of innovation, including cloud, social and mobile. When the iPhone was introduced in 2007, mobile internet broadened the web and user base usage.
The world moved from spending a few hours a day on the internet to an always-connected state with the rise of mobile apps, web browsers, and personal notifications. Before Facebook was developed in 2004, the internet was a dark, anonymous place. Social networks attract users to generate content like recommendations and referrals.
The problem with Web 2, as many people saw it, was that internet users had to provide their personal information to use services by tech giants. This is especially true as you cannot access Google, Amazon, Microsoft, shopping, and social media blogs without your information.
These tech giants collect information about users’ preferences and how they use their services. This information is then sold to third parties and serves targeted ads.
How Web 3 Works
The term Web 3 was created by Gavin Wood, a co-founder of a cryptocurrency called Ethereum. It can be used in popular trading platforms like Binance and Robinhood. You can also use Ethereum in crypto casinos.
Gavin Wood and other supporters of Web 3 argue that the existing Web 2.0 is controlled by big tech. This, in turn, makes it ineffective to maintain public trust and data security. The current web is hard to hold accountable, making it hard to trust the websites.
Web 3 can be defined as the read-write and own phase of the internet. Instead of using free tech platforms in exchange for information, we can now participate in running and controlling protocols. This means that users can become shareholders and decision makers rather than just consumers and customers.
With Web 3, shares are called cryptocurrencies or tokens. These tokens stand for the ownership of decentralized networks called blockchains. If you have enough tokens, you get a say over the web. If you hold a governance token, you can spend your assets to vote on the platform’s future.
Like cryptocurrencies, everything on Web 3.0 would be verified by the network before being accepted. Online apps would let users exchange information or currency without a third party or a middleman.
Brian Brooks, Bitfury’s CEO, argues that decentralized internet relies on decisions made by investors, unlike today’s internet, whose decisions are made by Twitter, Google, and Facebook.
Features of Web 3.0
Even though Web 3.0 does not have a standardized definition, it has a few defining features. They include;
- Decentralization – This is a core tenet of Web 3.0. Web 2.0 uses a HTTP web address to find information stored at a fixed location and a single server. However, knowledge is based on content and kept simultaneously in multiple locations with the new web. This will break down massive databases held by tech giants like Facebook, handing more control to consumers.
- Artificial Intelligence and machine learning – Web 3.0 computers will understand information like humans based on semantic web and natural language processing. It will use machine learning, a branch of Artificial Intelligence that imitates how humans learn. This will improve its accuracy and enable computers to produce faster and more relevant results in many significant areas.
- Trustless and permissionless – Web 3.0 will be trustless because users will interact directly without going through a trusted intermediary. It will also be permissionless, and anyone can participate without permission from a governing participant.
- Ubiquity and connectivity – Information in Web 3.0 has more connected and ubiquitous content that multiple applications can access.
Comparing Web 2.0 and Web 3.0
The current internet structure, Web 2.0, is based on folksonomy. Folksonomy uses data and digital content organized by labels and tags used by consumers to consume content.
Web 2.0 uses linked web pages and data that depend on people’s knowledge for their data. Web 3.0 uses a broader range of information sets or sort information. This eases the ability to engage consumers with more meaningful content.
Arbitrators that offer digital social trust layers on Web 2.0 depend on extraction instead of value attraction. They hold high biased power levels that put users at risk of losing private data.
For example, Internet protocol decides how computers require data from other databases on servers globally. A significant proportion of servers and databases are centralized, leaving consumers wondering how much control websites have over their information.
Developer instruments are overly centralized as private companies mostly own them. These instruments include APIs owned by big tech companies like Facebook.
Web 3.0 won’t require users to hand over personal data like big tech companies to use their services. It will defend blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. All information will be published on the public ledger of the blockchain.
With Web 3.0, data will not be stored on the servers. Instead, data will be held on the network. Any changes in the data or movement will be recorded on the blockchain establishing a record verified by the entire network. This prevents users from misusing other people’s data.
Network forums that creators depend on to take applications and websites are private by default. This necessitates a complex set of permissions and authorizations to be used to develop software.
The Web 3.0 data structure is based on the blockchain instead of Web 2.0’s connected database. This data structure gets rid of the need for passwords and usernames. Web 3.0’s nature of the blockchain is tamper proof and eases the collaboration of different creators on open projects.
With Web 3.0, anyone can use platforms without getting authorization from centralized gatekeepers of big tech companies. Consumers can host projects on decentralized clouds and independent data centers. Web 3.0 can achieve transparency for free, unlike Web 2.0.
Is Web 3.0 Already Here?
The web as we know it, has served its users well with an endless era of data to better our daily experiences. Despite this, it has several challenges that can be solved by Web 3.0. Web 3.0 holds much promise but still has a long way to go. For a seamless data exchange, more structures need to be developed for Web 3.0 to serve its purpose. In addition, Web 3.0 projects require more uniformity.
Web 3.0 is likely to have new transactional systems as blockchain becomes more significant in determining incentives on several platforms where users have more control of their data and the people they exchange it with.
Conclusion
As years go by, trends seem to adapt to new technologies. The web is no exception; it has evolved from web 1.0 to 2.0, attracting more users and creating more chances for users to interact. Web 2.0 has served us well, but its shortcomings include requiring permissions and complex user data to account for. Web 3.0 still has a long way to go, but it promises a better consumer experience with more trust and access to information.
