Web 2.0 to 3.0 —Tyranny to Haven.
“ There can’t be any large-scale revolution until there’s a personal revolution, on an individual level. It’s got to happen inside first.” — Jim Morrison
Web 3.0 is a revolution. A revolution wherein people are in control and not being controlled. A revolution that vouches for all, and distributes power to everyone. A revolution that is free from central manipulation and power concentration. A revolution that is bulletproof and makes people and their opinions bulletproof. This, my friends, is Web 3.0.
But why all of this now? If this is Web 3.0, then what are its predecessors like? To answer all of these, let’s open the gates to Jurassic Park, shall we?
Web 1.0 — Genesis
Show of hands please! (Use the comment section) if you remember Alta Vista and Ask Jeeves. Look away Gen-Zs. This one is for the millennials.
Web 1.0 was more of an open and read kinda thing. The only form of interaction you could ever have was Jeeves answering your anyway, rhetorical question, “ Does Juliet love me? ” I know. Vintage boring stuff.
But what tickles my fantasies is that Web 1.0 was open and accessible to everyone without any trade of control/power. The user could navigate and consume content as per his or her requirement without being manipulated.
Web 2.0 — Coronation
“ We Lived On Farms, Then We Lived In Cities, And Now We’re Going To Live On The Internet.” — The Social Network
Interaction with the browser was what the world craved for and Web 2.0 obliged. Tech giants by the name of Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, Yahoo, and Google took information-sharing and communication to a different dimension altogether. The smartphone industry answered the call of evolution and high-speed internet became a necessity to survival. Oxford added ‘Social Media’ and ‘Google’ to the English dictionary and the Web had a new definition to itself.
Free social media accounts, free emails, free storage, and what not? Have you ever wondered how we have been using all these ‘cool’ services without ever paying a cent? And yet, the same tech companies are valued at billions of dollars. Blows right out of our heads, right? To save you the trouble, let’s just quote a powerful dialogue from ‘The Social Dilemma’ —
“ If you are not paying for the product, then you are the product.”
Open up your Instagram account and analyze the types of ads you’re being exposed to. Doesn’t it always show products/services that pertain to your interests? Creepy, right? Behold the world of ‘Data and Algorithms.’
When the web evolved to this new form of itself, the number of internet users sprang from millions to billions. Companies instantly realized that to get their product in front of the mass, the internet was the only way. Fields like digital marketing, data scientists, and growth engineers were born out of thin air. Social media companies and other tech giants with their central databases of user data saw this as a golden opportunity for minting money. Sensitive information about the user started being auctioned to brands without the user getting the slightest hint about it. (Hi, Mark). Power now was concentrated at the very center of the industry and all users became slaves to the big boys.
Here’s a good watch for everyone — ‘The Social Dilemma’
Web3.0 — Democracy
Imagine a modern and more efficient implementation of the classic Web 1.0 vision with faster speeds, untarnished information, and public ownership. In a nutshell, this is Web 3.0.
Heard about blockchain? The innovative piece of tech has revolutionized the way we look at data storing. Need a quick recap? Here’s a link.
The biggest advantage that a public blockchain offers is that it cannot be controlled/manipulated by a central authority, unlike traditional databases. Since in essence, it is a network of computers connected all across the world, without a single point of failure, it resembles the idea of decentralization. The higher the number of computers connected to a network, the greater is the degree of its decentralization.
When Nakamoto envisioned Bitcoin, the one which all of you want to HODL, he imagined a currency free from the control of governments and inflation. Oh, in case you missed it, Bitcoin is the name of the cryptocurrency used to incentivize the nodes(computers) for validating transactions on the Bitcoin network. (Blockchain). More on this in our upcoming articles.
Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 — Make the Switch
Technology has made it possible for us to connect with people all across the globe in a matter of a few clicks/taps. Web 2.0 was pivotal in this frontier and there’s no denying that it has become the very part of our lives. The problem lies with the number of power companies like Facebook and Google have attained. The misuse of our data is something which we have to live with as we had chosen to trust these companies while using those services. Fake news, data breach, and misuse are just a few examples that showcase how powerless the users have become over time.
We are monitored constantly for everything we do on the web. The Governments have shaped information available on the central databases shamelessly and are continuing to do the same. When it comes to financial institutions, the story is no different. Try sending a contact of yours in the US, some money. You’ll have to pay not one but multiple charges just because you are transacting from an Indian bank to a foreign bank. The architecture of the financial banks is such that there are multiple middlemen involved in a singular transaction. The charges levied on you are food for these middlemen.
Web 3.0 protocols with their decentralized and peer-to-peer architecture eliminate middlemen. Beautiful, isn’t it? Data is not stored on a single server but in a distributed way across multiple servers. Applications that represent Web 3.0 store data on blockchains or distributed databases, or a combination of both.
The lack of a central authority makes people the very owner of their data. Gone are the days of seeking permissions or getting blindfolded to your data. Blockchain promotes a permissionless and trustless environment.
To use a blockchain network like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon, etc. we will be paying network fees similar to the fees for using web2.0 servers and cloud. However, these fees solely go into the wallet of the validator(one of the people helping to run the network) and not to a private firm like in Web 2.0.
The Applications of Web 3.0 — A new beginning
Let’s start with Cryptocurrencies. One of the most popular applications of blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies can have various kinds of utilities to themselves. One of them being governance. If you happen to own some kind of tokens like MATIC, you have the right to vote on decisions and proposals on that particular network.
DAOs and De-Fi are magical innovations, thanks to decentralization and tokenomics. DAO or Decentralised Anonymous Organisations is an entirely new organizational structure where every decision is voted on by the community in an anonymous way without any manipulation. De-Fi is the world’s best interest-earning bank without the need for a physical bank. People can lend, borrow and do all sorts of bank transactions without any hindrance.
Read our article on Staking to clear the mist, if there’s any.
Web 3.0 is a celebration of the community wherein power is restored to the users. Web 3.0 is a revolution that has just begun. A revolution that is inevitable and which paves the way to a censorship-resistant society.
Come, let’s build a better Web together.
Edited by — Arka Sengupta.
