Web3, as a term or technology, is being thrown around a lot these days, is referred to as the evolution of the Internet. But why does the Internet need an evolution when it’s one revolution. To answer it in one word – security, privacy, or decentralization. Web3 is the third version of the Internet, expected to bring a shift in how we interact online.
Think of moving to Web3 as moving from Internet monarchy to Internet democracy. Web3 is built on Blockchain technology, allowing the Internet to be supported by decentralized networks. So as a website owner, it takes away the need to depend on servers owned by Big Tech or other large companies.
Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 to Web3
Web 1.0 was the first publicly available web and was simple and basic. As pointed out earlier, Web 1.0 more or less was a collection of read-only web pages. Since the entire concept of the Internet was relatively new, most websites were owned by individuals or small companies, and big Tech or even other large internet giants didn’t exist at that time.
The read-only interaction with websites changed with Web 2.0, also called participative web. Web 2.0 emphasized user-generated content, ease of use, and interoperability across devices for the end-user. This was a huge step-up from Web 1.0, which only allowed viewing the content. With applications like Facebook Instagram built on Web 2.0, you can view and contribute content.
Web 1.0 was more of a read-only mode where you could access the information on websites but couldn’t interact with it. Web 2.0 focused on taking this to the next level and allowing us to read and interact through a network. Like Instagram, Facebook (now Meta), WhatsApp were built on Web 2.0. Web3 gives all this along with collective ownership, personalization, and transparency.
Now life is pretty good on Web 2.0, right? Almost everything is available at the tip of our fingers. So, where does Web3 come in? Well, Web3 is decentralized. So, it provides ownership more or less like Web 1.0 but is interactive like Web 2.0. Best of both worlds, right? Because Big Tech or other big corporations own no central server, there’s more transparency.
With Web 2.0, we give up our personal information and data at the cost of our services. The worst part is, we don’t entirely know where it’s being used. Some for advertising, yes, but is that all? Web3 aims to remove all this ambiguity with peer-to-peer networks and focuses on taking the Internet from read+write to read+write+own.
How Does Web3 Work?
We understand that Web3 aims to make the Internet decentralized, user-controlled, and user-owned. Through Web3, users will be able to control their data and identity. Or at least that is what Web3’s foundation promotes. But the question is, how will Web3 achieve that?
When we hear the term ‘decentralized,’ only one thing comes to mind – Blockchain. Most of Web3, as of now, is based on the Ethereum Blockchain. Ethereum’s co-founder Gavin Wood first devised the term Web3 back in 2014. Internet on Blockchain would mean that there is no owner of the Web3 app or referred to as decentralized applications (dApps).
Presently, when you access the Internet, it is through servers, and you provide input through a server and get a response back. Only the platform provider knows what happens between this transfer of data. So what happens with the data in-between is often unknown to the user. This is what Web3 aims to resolve by bringing the Internet on Blockchain.
In most straightforward words, Blockchain technology is a digital and distributed ledger system that communicates not through servers but nodes. All participating systems in a network are referred to as nodes. It uses a network of computers to record information rather than just one server, making it difficult for hackers to steal or alter data.
Web3 also doesn’t depend on a centralized server to work. This means that through Web3, ideally, you will be able to send and receive messages without WhatsApp’s server recording them or carrying out transactions without your bank having a record on their servers.
So while this is a relatively new technology, it aims to close a massive gap between the users and the backend of the online services. Learn all about Web3 and become a Pro!