The WWW (World Wide Web) has been a major communication medium between people on the internet. People have used the world wide web for various types of interaction and data exchange.
Over the years the World Wide Web has witnessed a dramatic change. The applications on the Web today are so different from the applications there when the Web started. There have been three stages of web evolution Web 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0.
Web 1.0
Web 1.0 is the first version of the Web World Wide. It is the first internet that came into existence. This first version of the internet is called the Syntactic or Read-Only Web. Most of the people who participated in the Web 1.0 are consumers of content.
The content creators of the Web 1 were web developers who designed websites using materials given in graphic or text format mainly. Web 1.0 was the internet from 1991 to 2004.
The materials on the Web 1 websites were static. The supply of HTML data and content of Web 1.0 was through a stationary system of files instead of from a database. Web 1.0 created very few opportunities for interactions.
Web 2.0
The current version of the internet is Web 2.0. It is a social web with a read-write interaction feature. What it means is that you do not need to be a developer before you can be part of the content creators in Web 2.0. There are so many apps on Web 2.0 designed to allow users to create content primarily.
With Web 2.0, you can share your ideas around the world. You can use various platforms to create your content and share it with everyone interested in what you think. You can write using platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Medium, WordPress, and Flickr and share your content with millions of people around the globe.
Also, you can create video content on YouTube and share them with millions of people, while still interacting with millions of people in the comment section of the platform. These apps mentioned here are just some of the applications for interactions existing on the Web 2. 0., there are more of these types of platforms.
Website developers in the Web 2.0 internet use technologies HTML 5, JavaScript, and CSS3 frameworks to build new ideas and allow users to create content on the internet. What developers just need to do is to develop a mechanism that will engage and allow users to create content because Web 2.0 is built around user-generated content.
Most of the apps on Web 2 like Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Youtube were not like this at the beginning of Web 2.0 Internet. Comparing how they were, and the level of transformation that has occurred with them, these apps go through the following processes.
- The mother companies launch the apps.
- They get as many people as possible to start using the apps.
- They get the users to pay for using the apps.
Web 3.0
Web 3.0 is the internet of the future. It is called the internet of the future because it will be the decentralized version of our internet today. Web 3.0 will be the blockchain-integrated Web 2.0 internet. Web 3.0 is the version of the internet that will run on public blockchains.
The same kind of blockchain is used for facilitating transactions in cryptocurrencies.
The selling point of Web 3.0 is the decentralization feature, which means that power will leave the hands of a few major internet controllers like Facebook, Google, and Apple. Individuals will now have the power to control and decide what happens in some internet sections.
Web 3.0 is a permissionless internet. This means that it will be out of reach of central authorities. These centralized bodies will not have the power to decide who accesses the various internet services.
The internet of the future will not need a trusted third party for transactions to happen between more than one party. Web 3.0 will ensure that the data of users are safe and secure. The presence of centralized authority makes data collection possible.
People have to trade their identity and personal data for internet service access. So, when users can now own and control portions of the internet, they will not need to trade their identities again for access.
It means that they will decide who they want to give their data to and who to keep it from. By doing this, they will be technically protecting their data.
Another name for Web 3 is Semantic or read-write-execute Web. The dispensation of Web 3.0 started in 2010. While Web 2.0 will use human language and keywords to enable data analysis on computers, Web 3.0 will use Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.
The use of this ML and AI will help in generating and sharing valuable content intelligently based on the needs of the users.
There are some distinctions between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0, but the major one is decentralization. Web 3.0 will be the decentralized version of Web 2.0, allowing users to create apps that run on multiple servers or databases.
Web 3.0 has apps that are developed on blockchain technology. These apps will be decentralized networks of many P2P (Peer to Peer) servers or nodes. Sometimes the apps will be a hybrid of the Peer to Peer servers and nodes.
These apps built into these two programs are called Web 3.0 decentralized apps or DApps. Within the decentralized community, there are usually talks and constant discussions on decentralized applications.
The developers of networks get rewards when they develop and deploy services with excellent quality for ensuring a more secure and stable decentralized Web 3.0 network.
There are various Web 3.0 components (DApp is just one of them), and these components are getting massive traction. Out of all these components, the most talked about is Decentralized Finance or Defi for short.
The idea is simple; it is the ability to carry out real financial transactions without the interference of controlling agencies like governments, banks, or other financial institutions. These transactions will be possible through the blockchain network.
A lot of major international firms are heavily investing in Web 3.0, and one might just believe that the reason is so that they will get control of Web 3.0.
