What’s the difference between Web 1.0, 2.0 and Web3?
It’s been already over 30 years since the Web was created.
In the beginning, was decentralized and in complete chaos with unorganized information. Over the decades this tendency has changed and now users complain about an overly centralised web.
Let’s make a quick review of its evolution.
Web 1.0. The early stage of the World Wide Web revolution is commonly known as the read-only web. This means that websites were just informational pages and had boring and static content. Users could not interact with them and you couldn’t even attach a picture to your emails.
Web 2.0. We could refer to this second as the read-write web. User interaction grew exponentially with this web since now it allowed people to collaborate and share information online in ways that were not possible before. The content generated, the usability and interoperability for end users put them in the centre of the web.
The main advantage of Web 2.0 is the democratisation of the Web. The Web 2.0 philosophy emphasises the importance of people’s interactions with the Internet. Everyone has the opportunity to contribute to the web.
This is the time when social media, blogs, social networking or video screaming gained popularity. Some people call it “the Facebook era”.
Web 3. Is it already here?
Web3 is just the next logical step forward for the internet.
Web3 and all the technology developed around it are intended to reduce our dependence on big technology companies and their infrastructure. It aims to create a decentralized internet with more immersive and human spaces.
A more secure Internet
Web 3 also promises to reduce the need to use infinite passwords for each service. How is that possible?
The identity will be linked to the digital wallet or the avatar of the user. While in Web 2.0 authentication methods such as OAuth or email plus password almost always require the user to hand over private and personal data, in Web3 digital wallets are completely anonymous unless the user chooses to publicly share their identity.
On web3, and through blockchain technology, the user will be the owner and custodian of their personal data, deciding at all times what type of data they share and what they share it for.
Today, big technology companies trade and make a profit with our data. In an environment such as the one proposed by Web3, this data is the exclusive property of the user, so it could be the case that an individual can directly trade with their data and make money with it.
Are Web 3 and Metaverse the same?
No, it’s not the same thing.
True, both technologies are in their early stage and both rely on blockchain technologies, but they are not the same thing. We can say that the metaverse and Web3 complement each other.
On the one hand, the metaverse is a three-dimensional ecosystem that aims to offer immersive experiences like the ones we might have in the physical world: studying in the library, playing tennis with your friends, buying clothes or selling the stuff you don’t use. Of course, you all know its application to video games, VR and AR technologies.
On the other hand, Web 3 is the technology that brings it to life and allows us to travel through different worlds. Web 3 is about decentralizing data ownership and creating free infrastructures that allow users to manage their digital assets such as crypto, NFTs, avatars, land, etc.
Uncertain future
These changes are expected to give internet users more power over the information they access and the data they share, and ultimately create a freer and more equal internet.
But it remains to be seen whether Web 3.0 will be able to end the hegemony of tech giants such as Google or Facebook.
Colin Evran, leader of the Filecoin and IPFS ecosystems, created by Protocol Labs, a company that also aims to decentralize the web, shares his opinion saying:
“The transition from Web1 to Web2 was a huge transition that took many years. The transition from Web2 to Web3 is inevitable, but it won’t happen overnight, but over many years.”
“If we focus on developing the web, in the next five or ten years we’ll put data back in the hands of users. And that’s the world I want for me and my kids.”
Let us know your opinion in the comments!
