You’ve probably been uncovered to the term “Web3” quite a few times by this point in time. It could have been brought up at your place of employment, at the gym, or even over dinner during a friend’s ten-minute rant about why “Dogecoin is taking SpaceX to the Moon.”
The constant discussion of Web3 may make some people feel apprehensive. The majority of us are still getting used to the new socio-political reality that was brought about by social media, which is why the idea of a new version of the internet can be quite overwhelming.
But that’s not why we’re here; we’re here to unpack Web3, the next stage of the internet, and define the necessary terms.
Before we get started, it is essential to emphasise that Web3 is, by all accounts, still in its infancy. As a result of this, it is undergoing rapid change, and this rate of change is expected to persist for a considerable amount of time. However, despite the fact that the full effects of Web3 and its ultimate form won’t be realised any time soon, we do have a solid understanding of the principles that underpin it. There are many best web 3 services companies providing the best experience for any web3 related services.
To be more specific, it is based on an ecosystem of technological projects, specifically those that are:
- Decentralized
- Trustless
- Permissionless
- Interoperable
Taking a trip down memory lane can be helpful when attempting to explain exactly what each of these ideas means and why they are so important to the Web3 platform. When we talk about the past of the internet, it makes the path that we are going to take much more clear.
What Exactly Was The Web 1.0?
There have been two previous iterations of the internet so far, and they are referred to as Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. Web 1.0, which lasted from the middle of the 1980s until the early 2000s, is considered to be the internet’s “dinosaur age.” It was developed as a result of work that had been going on since 1973, when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the United States began research on protocols that would enable computers to communicate with one another over a distributed network.
Protocols are standardised, predetermined rules that allow connected devices to communicate with each other over the course of a network. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, protocols can be defined as follows:
Decentralization refers to the fact that the original version of the World Wide Web was constructed on top of a set of open protocols that were available without charge to users.
Open protocols, in contrast to proprietary protocols, are neither owned by a centralised authority nor are they restricted to the products of a single company.
The majority of the early web protocols, such as HTTP (which stands for “web”), SMTP (which stands for “email”), and FTP (which stands for “file transfer”), serve as the basis for the modern internet applications that we are all familiar with and adore.
What Exactly Is The Web 2.0?
Web 2.0 has become ingrained in our daily lives over the course of the past two decades. There has not been a change in the underlying technology. Instead, it is the result of a shift in the manner in which we utilise the internet.
The term “Web 2.0” refers to an updated version of the internet that gives regular users the ability to create, share, and publish their own content. Today’s average person is no longer content to merely observe events from a distance. Instead, they are actively contributing to the development of the internet.
To give you a better idea of what this entails, an online store during the time of Web 1.0 consisted of nothing more than a long list of product names and prices. The readers quickly skimmed through them, and then they proceeded to make their purchases at the physical store. Users of Web 2.0 can use an e-commerce website to perform a variety of tasks, including making payments, tracking their orders, posting reviews, requesting refunds, and more.
In point of fact, Web 2.0 sites make it very easy for users to participate and increase the amount of time they spend engaged.
What Exactly Is Web3 And Why Should You Care About It?
Web 3.0 was the name given to the stage that came after Web 2.0 until around 2014, when Gavin Wood coined the term “Web3.” The shorter name has remained, for better or for worse. So, what exactly is this Web3? In a nutshell, the goal of Web3 is to rectify all of the issues that arose as a result of Web 2.0.
The next generation of the internet is centred on the idea of giving users, rather than large corporations that specialise in technology, more control over their online experience.
As was mentioned at the beginning of this article, Web3 revolves around an ecosystem of technology products that are trustless, permissionless, decentralised, and interoperable. Now it’s time to break down precisely what this entails and why you should care about Web3, so let’s get started.
What Exactly Does “Trustless” And “Decentralisation” Mean?
Web3 is built on top of blockchain-powered crypto networks, which allow data to be stored across distributed devices (also known as “nodes”) all over the world. This eliminates the need to rely on a single centralised server for the storage of data. In the end, these widely dispersed devices could be anything, including desktop computers, portable computers, or even larger servers.
They serve as the framework of the blockchain, communicating with one another to enable the storage, spread, and preservation of data without the need for a trusted third party to oversee the process.
Because of these nodes, the blockchain is able to provide an immutable record; it is a decentralised proof of ownership mechanism that is unlike anything else that we have encountered in the past.
What is the nature of Web3’s relationship to the metaverse?
Even though “Web3” and “metaverse” are frequently used synonymously, this is not the correct usage of either term. They are not equivalent in any way.
The physical world and the digital world come together to form what is referred to as the metaverse. The proponents of the metaverse contend that such a future is unavoidable and that humans will one day spend the majority of their waking hours in a world that is augmented in some way.
They believe that this will happen in the not-too-distant future. Recently, the concept has gained a lot of traction as a result of the fact that Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, has placed a significant bet on the metaverse by renaming his social media company “Meta.”
The Web3 network is a decentralised version of the internet that has nothing to do with augmenting users’ perceptions of their physical surroundings.
Web3 is not the metaverse, despite the fact that many Web3 protocols, such as peer-to-peer cryptocurrency transactions and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), may be used in the future metaverse.
Metaverse and NFTs are closely linked in this way because of digital assets and the monetary value they are assigned. The NFTs will be in charge of pricing content and providing proof of ownership in the metaverse, which will allow creators to exhibit digital art and property. Did you know NFT comes in many forms like nft for memes, nft for games,development of nft minting website etc.
The Confusion
The most important thing to remember (if there is such a thing) is that: It is anticipated that Web3 will be the subsequent stage of the internet. The internet has evolved into a decentralized, privacy-first age, in which users own their data and profits are moving away from centralized intermediaries and into the hands of creators and the communities they belong to. If the developers who are working on the current problems can solve them, there is a chance that we will succeed.
