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You might have heard of Web 3.0 but not have a full understanding of what it is. This might also be your first time coming across it. So, what is Web 3.0?
In this article, we will learn exactly what Web 3.0 is, how different it is from Web 1.0 and Web 2.0, the significant features of Web 3.0, and the relationship it has with blockchain.
According to Ethereum.org, Web3 is decentralized, permissionless, and trustless.
Why do people use the World Wide Web?
Many people use the World Wide Web as their primary tool for disseminating information, reading and creating it, and connecting with others via the internet. The web has evolved significantly over time, and its current applications are almost unidentifiable from its inception. Web development is currently divided into three stages: Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0.
First, before we fully dive into what web3 is, let’s talk about how the early web worked.
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Web 1.0 (Read-only)
1990–2004
Web 1.0 is a read-only web that allows people to access information on websites.
Tim Berners-Lee was working on the protocols that would become the World Wide Web at CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, or European Organization for Nuclear Research), in Geneva in 1989. His concept was to develop open, decentralized protocols that allowed information to be shared from anywhere on the planet.
Berners- Lee’s invention, now known as ‘Web 1.0,’ was first implemented between 1990 and 2004. Web 1.0 consisted primarily of static websites owned by businesses, with little to no interaction between users — individuals rarely produced content — leading to it being dubbed the read-only web.
Think of the read-only or syntactic web as Web 1.0. The vast majority of participants were content consumers, whereas the creators were mostly web developers who created websites with the information presented primarily in text or visual format. Sites provided static content rather than dynamic hypertext markup language (HTML) content in this case. The data and content were delivered via a static file system rather than a database, and the web pages were interactive only to a limited extent.
The primary goal of web 1.0 was to assist people in finding information. Significantly, because it was “read-only”, online users could not freely communicate, so any argument occurred offline.
The key technologies that comprised web 1.0 were as follows:
HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
Besides, because there were no search engines available at the time, accessing the World Wide Web (WWW) was difficult. Any website you wanted to visit required you to know the URL.
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Web 2.0 (Read-Write)
2004-now
With the introduction of social media platforms in 2004, the Web 2.0 era began. Instead of being read-only, the web evolved into a read-write medium (Just the way I’m writing this article now and you are reading it. This is Web 2.0). Companies began to provide platforms for users to share user-generated content and engage in user-to-user interactions rather than simply providing content to users. As more people went online, a few large corporations began to control a disproportionate amount of the web’s traffic and value. Web 2.0 also gave birth to the revenue model based on advertising. Users could create content, but they couldn’t own it or profit from it.
Darcy DiNucci introduced the term “web 2.0” in her essay “Fragmented Future” in 1999. However, it was popularized in late 2004 by Tim O’Reilly and Dale Dougherty”.
The majority of us have only seen the web in its current form, also known as Web 2.0, the interactive read-write web, and the social web. Unlike Web 1.0, to participate in the Web 2.0 creative process, you do not need to be a developer. Many applications are designed in such a way that they can be created by anyone. You can generate ideas and share them with the rest of the world. You can also upload a video to Web 2.0 and make it available for a lot of people to view, interact with, and comment on. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, Twitter, and other social media platforms are examples of Web 2.0 apps.
The rise of web 2.0 was fueled primarily by three levels of innovation. They are; mobile (Mobile Internet access has grown, allowing users to be online at all times), social (social networks persuaded users to engage in specific activities and generate content), and cloud (Companies were able to transition from purchasing and maintaining their own costly and specialized infrastructure to renting warehouses, compute capacity, and management tools on the fly).
Technology tools such as HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript frameworks such as ReactJs, AngularJs, VueJs, and others enable businesses to develop new ideas that allow users to contribute more to the Social Web. As a result, because Web 2.0 is centred on people, developers only need to provide a means to equip and encourage interaction.
People began interacting with one another on the Internet in 1999, thanks to social networking platforms, content blogs, and other services.
Smartphones and mobile computing were eventually developed. People began interacting online in discussion forums and creating content that other Internet users could enjoy, comment on, or share.
Around 1999 and 2004, O’Reilly and others defined Web 2.0 as a shift away from static desktop web pages produced for information consumption via expensive servers and toward interactive interactions and user-generated content.
You have no control over your data or how it is stored in Web 2.0. In reality, corporations routinely monitor and store user data without their knowledge or permission. The companies in charge of these platforms own and manage all of this data. Furthermore, when governments believe someone is expressing an opposing viewpoint, servers are routinely shut down or bank accounts are seized. Governments can quickly intervene, control, or shut down programs by using centralized servers. (Example of this was when Twitter was temporarily banned in Nigeria). Banks are not left out of this also because they are digital and centralized as well. However, in times of extreme volatility, excessive inflation, or other political upheavals, they may suspend bank accounts or restrict access to money.
There’s no denying that the Internet’s value, participation, and importance in our lives grew over time. However, as a result of this, the web has become increasingly centralized. It encouraged more collaboration by providing new ways to organize and interact with others. However, it did create new opportunities for online stalking, cyberbullying, doxing, disseminating false information, identity theft, and other forms of online abuse. Web 3.0 came up to solve a lot of web 2.0’s problems.
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Web 3.0 (Read-Write-Own)
According to securecerts, “The term web 3.0 was first coined by John Markoff in 2006 while he was working as a journalist in the Newyork Times. But the term significantly appeared for the first time in an article “Critical of web 2.0 and associated technologies such as Ajax” written by Jeffry Zeldman. Web 3.0 was originally called the semantic web by Tim Berners-Lee”.
Also, according to Ethereum, “The premise of ‘Web 3.0’ was coined by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood shortly after Ethereum launched in 2014. Gavin put into words a solution for a problem that many early crypto adopters felt: the Web required too much trust. That is, most of the Web that people know and use today relies on trusting a handful of private companies to act in the public’s best interests”.
Ethereum also stated the core ideas of web 3.0.
Web3 is decentralized: instead of large swathes of the internet controlled and owned by centralized entities, ownership gets distributed amongst its builders and users.
Web3 is permissionless: everyone has equal access to participate in Web3, and no one gets excluded.
Web3 has native payments: it uses cryptocurrency for spending and sending money online instead of relying on the outdated infrastructure of banks and payment processors.
Web3 is trustless: it operates using incentives and economic mechanisms instead of relying on trusted third-parties
Let us look at some of the features Web 3.0 has to offer.
Web 3.0 does not require “permission,” implying that central authorities do not have control over who has access to what services, nor does it require “trust,” implying that virtual transactions between two or more parties do not require an intermediary. Because these organizations and intermediaries acquire the majority of the data, Web 3.0 theoretically protects user privacy better. Anyone, including consumers and service providers, may participate without the need for permission from a ruling body.
Web3 gives you unprecedented control over your digital assets. Let’s say you’re playing a web2 game. When you buy an in-game item, it is linked to your account. You will lose these items if the game’s creators delete your account. Alternatively, if you stop playing the game, you will lose the value you have invested in your in-game items. This is not the case in web 3.0.
From Ethereum, it is seen that Web3 allows for direct ownership through non-fungible tokens (NFTs). No one, not even the game’s creators, has the power to take away your ownership. And, if you stop playing, you can sell or trade your in-game items on open markets and recoup their value.
Decentralized finance, also known as DeFi, is an important component of Web 3.0. It entails conducting real-world financial transactions on the blockchain without the help of banks or governments. Meanwhile, many large corporations and venture capital firms are investing heavily in Web 3.0.
Web 3.0 is open, It was created in full view of the public using open-source software developed by an open and accessible community of developers.
It is trustless, The network enables users to interact openly and privately without the need for an intermediary, exposing them to risks; thus, “trustless” data is generated.
Although Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 have significant differences, decentralization is at the heart of both. Web 3.0 developers almost never create and deploy programs that run on a single server or use a single database (usually hosted on and managed by a single cloud provider).
Blockchains, on the other hand, are decentralized networks of many peer-to-peer nodes (servers), or a combination of the two. These applications are referred to as decentralized apps (DApps) in the Web 3.0 ecosystem. Your data is stored on the blockchain in Web3. When you decide to leave a platform, you can take your reputation with you, plugging it into another interface that better reflects your values. Censorship resistance is a native feature of a Web3 platform, whereas Web 2.0 requires content creators to trust platforms not to change the rules.
Another feature of web 3.0 is Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs)
It is said in Ethereum that As well as owning your data in Web3, you can own the platform as a collective, using tokens that act like shares in a company. DAOs let you coordinate decentralized ownership of a platform and make decisions about its future.
Ethereum also defined DAO as agreed-upon smart contracts that automate decentralized decision-making over a pool of resources (tokens). Users with tokens vote on how resources get spent, and the code automatically performs the voting outcome.
Another feature of web 3.0 is Identity.
Ethereum explained the feature better. “Traditionally, you would create an account for every platform you use. For example, you might have a Twitter account, a YouTube account, and a Reddit account. Want to change your display name or profile picture? You have to do it across every account. You can use social sign-ins in some cases, but this presents a familiar problem — censorship. In a single click, these platforms can lock you out of your entire online life. Even worse, many platforms require you to trust them with personally identifiable information to create an account.
Web3 solves these problems by allowing you to control your digital identity with an Ethereum address and ENS profile. Using an Ethereum address provides a single login across platforms that is secure, censorship-resistant, and anonymous. Sign-in with Ethereum”
Native payment is also a feature of web 3.0. Web2’s payment infrastructure is based on banks and payment processors, which excludes people who do not have bank accounts or who live within the borders of the wrong country. Web3 sends money directly to the browser using tokens such as ETH, Matic, and others eliminating the need for a trusted third party.
Web 3.0’s most significant advancement is decentralization and the reduction of trust required for global coordination. This represents a shift away from explicitly trusting each network component and/or attempting to gain trust through extrinsic means.
Whilst web 2.0 was primarily driven by the introduction of mobile, social, and cloud technologies, web 3.0 is driven by four extra layers of technological innovation. They are; Edge computing, Decentralization, Artificial intelligence and machine learning, and blockchain technology. (I will be writing about blockchain technology later. You should follow me so you won’t miss it).
Web 3.0 apps look and feel the same as 2.0 apps, but the backend is vastly different.
Semantic web, 3D graphics, and the concept of being or being present in multiple places at the same time are also some qualities of web 3.0.
How does web 3.0 work?
In web 2.0, A user must interact with the frontend of an application, which connects to the backend, which communicates with the database. The entire code is hosted on centralized servers and delivered to users via an Internet browser.
Unlike web 2.0, Web 3.0 lacks centralized databases to store application data or a centralized webserver to house backend code. Instead, there is a blockchain that enables developers to build programs on top of a decentralized state machine that is maintained by anonymous internet nodes.
The logic of apps is specified in smart contracts created by developers and
deployed on the decentralized state machine. Instead of calling it App like in web 2.0, we call it DApp (Decentralized Application)in web 3.0
Ethereum Blockchain, smart contracts, Ethereum virtual machine, and frontend make up the web 3.0 architecture.
Some benefits of web 3.0 are:
Users have total control over their privacy and data (Data Security and Control)
Totally free from governing bodies' actions over personal accounts.
Regardless of which blockchain platform they use, end users will follow their data and analyze the code underlying the DApp (accountability).
With features ranging from frictionless payments to richer information flows to trustworthy data transfers, Web 3.0 will broaden the scope of engagement even further. This will occur because web3 will enable us to interconnect with any machine without paying a fee to an intermediary.
Because the blockchain network is open to all, users can create their own addresses and participate in it. Customers will be able to quickly move their assets or riches anywhere in the world using this function.
When using web 3.0, users do not need to create separate personal accounts for each platform.
Problem-solving and heavy knowledge development jobs benefit from Web 3.0. It extracts useful information from massive amounts of data using artificial intelligence.
What are the limitations of web 3.0?
Due to high transaction fees, Web3 is less likely to be used in less-affluent developing countries. These issues are being addressed on Ethereum through network upgrades and layer 2 scaling solutions.
Less powerful computers will be unable to deliver web 3.0’s benefits.
To make the technology available to a larger number of people worldwide, the capabilities and qualities of the devices will need to be expanded.The technical barrier to using Web3 is currently prohibitively high. Users must understand security concerns, navigate unintuitive user interfaces, and comprehend complex technical documentation. Wallet providers, in particular, are working to address this, but more progress is required before Web3 is widely adopted.
If web 3.0 becomes an Internet standard, all websites built with web 1.0 technology will become outdated. Old technology cannot be updated to accommodate new functionalities. One of the best examples of Web 1.0 is old Geocities pages (although no more available, their content is archived online)
Web3 presents new concepts that necessitate the acquisition of mental models that differ from those used in Web 2.0. Web3 is not incredibly hard, but it is unique. Education programs that educate Web2 users about these Web3 concepts are critical to its success.
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