Web3 For Dummies — A Quick Guide
Among the biggest revolutionizing technologies is the emergence of the Internet. From the way we interact, the fact that we can pinpoint the exact location for our Uber driver, make bookings online, or send a friend that new meme that popped up on Twitter.
This is called Web 2.0, and it’s been here for only 16 years. Since its emergence, people have created millions of online communities, global issues are now openly debated via social media apps, and information flows from every corner — exactly as the pioneers of the internet envisioned.
“The internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow” — Bill Gates
Web 2.0 made it possible for people to distribute content worldwide, but more importantly, being able to build on top of the infrastructure, which brings us to the forthcoming of the so-called Web 3.0.
🧐 What is Web 3.0?
Web 3.0 generally refers to the next generation of the worldwide web. Just like Web 2.0 started from an abstract concept of sending information on an open network, Web 3.0 goes deeper into building a fairer and more transparent internet. For this reason, Web 3.0 is often associated with blockchain technology.
In part, Web 3 will become closer to a “web of data” that can understand, combine and automatically interpret information to provide users with a much more enhanced and interactive experience. But it would also be a decentralized web that challenges the dominance of the tech giants by concentrating the power (and data) in the hands of the users, instead of corporations.
Computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, explained this idea of a Semantic Web in 1999:
I have a dream for the Web [in which computers] become capable of analyzing all the data on the Web — the content, links, and transactions between people and computers. A “Semantic Web,” which makes this possible, has yet to emerge, but when it does, the day-to-day mechanisms of trade, bureaucracy, and our daily lives will be handled by machines talking to machines.
So what is the alternative? We need some technical solutions here, besides our desire to make things right. And we can see the advent of these solutions happening today.
🤖 Why do we need Web 3.0?
Each time we interact over the Internet, copies of our data are made and stored on servers of companies such as Google or Facebook, and when this happens, we lose control over our data. The fact that our information is stored by 3rd parties is not necessarily bad, however, when a single entity mediates the entire process this is where things can get an ugly turn.
Do we need a world where the data you provide can be used for the wrong purposes because of greed or pure malice? This goes way beyond privacy, the core of our problem is rather about control. On a daily basis, we hand control over petabytes of data over to companies and individuals with no apparent choice. Even after reading this article, we are still going to sign up on apps with our information for the sake of convenience. After all, this is one of the main benefits of technology.
In this context, blockchain seems to be a driving force of the next-generation Internet by providing three main solutions to the shortcomings of Web 2.0:
- ➡️ Privacy & Security — Building an improved web using the latest cryptographic technologies will make sure users of the internet are able to keep personal details private, far from the prying eyes of companies or hackers.
- ➡️ Decentralized Storage — It’s possible to split up large files into smaller chunks that can be individually encrypted and stored in other locations. The IPFS Network and similar protocols are designed in a way that would require you to hack into multiple devices around the globe simultaneously in order to breach them, each having their own security.
- ➡️ Identity & Reputation — If all this anonymity makes you wonder about how we’ll deal with trust and reputation online, you’re not alone. In fact, we already have digital identities online that consist of data uploaded to social media and other websites. The major problem is that we don’t own or control that data, something that gets changed on the new web.
🔮 What is the state of Web 3.0?
Some of the technologies that could make the decentralized web possible are already being developed and iterated on at a very fast pace.
For example, the Databox Project aims to create an open-source device that stores and controls a user’s personal data locally instead of letting tech companies gather and do whatever they like with it. Zeronet offers an alternative where websites are hosted by a network of participating computers instead of a centralized server, protected by the same cryptography that’s used for Bitcoin.
Web3 applications, sometimes referred to as DApps, are built on decentralized peer-to-peer networks like Ethereum and IPFS. Instead of being run by some company, these networks are built, operated, and maintained by their users.
Moreover, a decentralized version of YouTube, called DTube is already actively hosting videos across the web using a “blockchain” public ledger as its database and payment system.
📝 Closing Thoughts
Although the way to build Web 3 apps will change in many ways as the infrastructure around it evolves, what’s key is that apps are being built today.
Knowing that a lot of really smart teams are starting to tackle the challenges and opportunities made available, we can expect to see more decentralized versions of current services and websites.
The question is whether these improved models will be integrated by the very centralized companies of today or the promise of Web 3.0 is in the hands of a new generation.
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