What is Web 3.0? Is it a Scam or a New Internet
Web 3.0 market cap was 2.9$ billion in 2021 and is predicted to be 23.3$ billion by 2028.
If you are new to Web 3.0 few concepts might be overwhelming to understand but don’t worry, after reading this blog it will a piece of cake for you to swim through the future of the internet.
Before understanding what is Web3.0?
Let's understand what is Web 1.0 & Web 2.0 and how it’s different from Web 3.0
What is Web 1.0?
So, from the period when the internet was introduced to the world until 2004 was the WEB 1.0
That era of the internet is called as “Read-only” where you were only allowed to view static webpages.
Why Read-only?
Because the only option users had was, to read — Wikipedia or websites.
As Web1.0 was confined to only viewing the content, the users couldn’t interact or create content.
Then came Web 2.0 into existence.
What is Web 2.0?
From 2004 - present, big companies like Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, etc.. came into existence and have been making the internet much more interactive.
Now the users not only can view the content but also can create. But nothing on the internet is free, you are the product. Our actions & behaviors are tracked by companies so that they can push more of the similar contents to the users and hook them for longer period. All this while showing ads and selling the data later on to other companies.
One of the primary reasons why Facebook has seen decline of active users is their practice of doing business with user data. And it’s just one of the examples, many Web 2.0 companies exploit user privacy and data to maximize their profits.
We accept many permissions while using apps that grant them the access of our data.
So, Web 2.0 companies have been accused for several privacy breach and users are targeted to view the content according to the ML algorithm which pushes more of the contents that the users will watch.
For example, Let's say you are browsing YouTube and one of your friends is browsing as well, but the content on the home page of YouTube will be different for both of you. Because, the ML algorithm knows which content you will be watching, therefore, they push similar content.
All the collected data is stored in centralized servers which are mostly used to sell it and show you ads according to your interests. We as user are not the real owner of our data, Web 3.0 gives us that luxury.
Now let’s understand Web 3.0
So, what is Web 3.0?
Web 3.0 is the new internet, powered by the secure, decentralized, immutable — Blockchain Technology.
Let’s understand decentralization.
We are very familiar with the centralized systems, decentralization is a system where data is not in hands of big tech companies, rather its distributed among the network of thousands of computers around the world.
Instead of CEO, it’s run by community.
For example, Consider WhatsApp which is free to use and is a Web 2.0 platform where you are not charged any fees to message any of your friends because you act as a product to these company since you provide data to them.
Therefore in Web 2.0, you are a product.
But it is assumed that in Web 3.0 you will be the owner of your data and no 3rd party can exercise any control.
For example, Let's say you post something on Twitter which is controversial, now Twitter platform has the ownership to bring that tweet down.
In Web 3.0 platform, if you post something it will be your choice if you want to bring it down or not because you will have the ownership of that post and it can’t be deleted because this post will on thousands of computers around the world.
Now, you have understood that in Web 3.0 there will be no CEO of the company or project but it would run by the community and it is believed that all projects would be controlled by a decentralized system called DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)
Hope you got something to learn from this blog about Web 3.0. If it was worth your time please follow Akash Jha and BlockTrain for more insightful content on Web 3 and Blockchain.
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Thank you for reading this blog.
