What is Web3.0?! Explaining the Future of the Internet

Web 3.0 is the next third generation of the internet, in which websites and applications will be able to process information in a human-like manner using machine learning (ML), big data, and decentralized ledger technology (DLT), among other technologies. Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, initially referred to Web 3.0 as the Semantic Web, with the goal of creating a more autonomous, intelligent, and open internet.

The Web 3.0 concept may be extended as follows: data will be decentralized, which is a significant improvement over the present generation of the internet (Web 2.0), in which data is mostly held in centralized repositories.

Additionally, data will be able to communicate with individuals and machines. However, for this to occur, programs must comprehend information theoretically and culturally. With this in mind, Web 3.0's two pillars are the semantic web and artificial intelligence (AI).

We may anticipate to witness a significant convergence and symbiotic interaction between these three technologies and other disciplines as Web 3.0 networks run via decentralized protocols, the foundational blocks of blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. In Africa, they can power microtransactions, censorship-resistant P2P file storage and sharing using Filecoin apps, and will be seamlessly linked via smart contracts to radically change the way every firm conducts and operates its business. In the near future, there will be many more DeFi protocols.

Internet users in the Web 1.0 era were mostly consumers of the material that other people had developed.

Web 1.0, also called the Static Web, was the first and most reliable internet in the 1990s despite only offering access to limited information with little to no user interaction. Back in the day, creating user pages or even commenting on articles weren’t a thing.

Web 1.0 didn't have algorithms to sift internet pages, which made it extremely hard for users to find relevant information. Simply put, it was like a one-way highway with a narrow footpath where content creation was done by a select few and information came mostly from directories.

The early 2000s marked an inflection point in the growth of the web and a key period of its development, as technology companies that survived the dot-com crash evolved to deliver value to customers in new ways amidst heightened skepticism around the web. 

The Social Web, or Web 2.0, made the internet a lot more interactive thanks to advancements in web technologies like Javascript, HTML5, CSS3, etc., which enabled startups to build interactive web platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia and many more.

This paved the way for both social networks and user-generated content production to flourish since data can now be distributed and shared between various platforms and applications.

Since its inception in 2004, Web 2.0 has been referred to as the "read-write web" stage of the Internet's growth. Usability, simplicity of use, participative culture, and interoperability were all high priorities. Web 2.0-based platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Amazon were among the first to emerge. Creating an e-commerce business has become more popular thanks to CMS technologies like WordPress and blogging.

Web 2.0 brought about a fundamental shift, where people could share their perspectives, opinions, thoughts, and experiences through a variety of online tools and platforms. For all the convenience that Web 2.0 brought, there lies some serious flaws and disadvantages…

A user will make a HTTP request to the server and if everything is correct it will send back that webpage as a response. A major flaw here is that all data is stored on a centralised server, controlled by the platforms.

Facebook, Google, Twitter and other platforms began storing users data in their servers so that they can serve us better content through machine learning. This in turn would make us stay on their websites longer, therefore providing more ad revenue for these companies. The companies eventually started selling our information to advertisers, which meant more money for them!

Web 3.0 is the next stage of the web evolution that would make the internet more intelligent or process information with near-human-like intelligence through the power of AI systems that could run smart programs to assist users.

Web 3.0 aims to create a decentralized and secured Internet, where the users can safely and securely exchange information and money, without the need for any middlemen or Big Tech companies. Unlike Web 2.0 applications, in which all data are stored in a single database, Web 3.0 applications runs on decentralized networks like blockchain or peer-to-peer servers.

In contrast to web 2.0, where you are the product, some people predict that in web3, you will be the content owner. According to web3 specialists, the corporation will be run by a decentralised group known as a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) removing the need of CEO’s and upper management in a company. Because your digital identity is not tied to your real identity in web3, you can be anonymous on the internet while still living your usual life.

An example of web3 application is Obsidian for Whatsapp, Odyessy, LBRY for YouTube, etc.

Distributed systems are inherently different from centralised systems and should not be thought about in the same way. Distributed systems enable the data and its processing to not be held by a single party. This is useful for companies to provide resilience, but it’s also useful for P2P-based networks where data can stay in the hands of the participants.

For instance, if you were to host a blog the old-fashioned way, you would put up a server and publish to the Internet. Nowadays, your blog would be hosted on a platform like WordPress, Ghost, Notion, or even Twitter. If these companies were to have an outage, this affects a lot more people. In a distributed fashion, via IPFS for instance, your blog content can be hosted and served from multiple locations operated by different entities.

To really understand the next stage of the internet, we need to take a look at the four key features of Web 3.0:

Ubiquity means being or having the capacity to be everywhere, especially at the same time. In other words, omnipresent. In that sense, Web 2.0 is already ubiquitous since, for instance, a Facebook user can instantly capture an image and share it, which then becomes ubiquitous since it's available to anyone no matter where they are, as long as they have access to the social media platform.

Web 3.0 simply takes this a step further by making the internet accessible to everyone anywhere, at any time. At some point, internet-connected devices will no longer be concentrated on computers and smartphones like in Web 2.0 since IoT (Internet of Things) technology will bring forth a plethora of new types of smart devices.

Semantic(s) is the study of the relationship between words. Therefore, the Semantic Web, according to Berners-Lee, enables computers to analyze loads of data from the Web, which includes content, transactions and links between persons. In practice, how would this look? Let’s take these two sentences, for instance:

I love Bitcoin.
I <3 Bitcoin.

Their syntax may be different, but their semantics are pretty much the same, since semantics only deals with the meaning or emotion of the content.

Applying semantics in the Web would enable machines to decode meaning and emotions by analyzing data. Consequently, internet users will have a better experience driven by enhanced data connectivity.

Wikipedia defines AI as intelligence demonstrated by machines.

And since Web 3.0 machines can read and decipher the meaning and emotions conveyed by a set of data, it brings forth intelligent machines. Although Web 2.0 presents similar capabilities, it is still predominantly human-based, which opens up room for corrupt behaviors such as biased product reviews, rigged ratings, etc.

For instance, online review platforms like Trustpilot provide a way for consumers to review any product or service. Unfortunately, a company can simply gather a large group of people and pay them to create positive reviews for its undeserving products. Therefore, the internet needs AI to learn how to distinguish the genuine from the fake in order to provide reliable data.

Google’s AI system recently removed around 100,000 negative reviews of the Robinhood app from the Play Store following the Gamespot trading debacle when it detected attempts of rating manipulation intended to artificially downvote the app. This is AI in action, which will soon seamlessly fit into Internet 3.0, enabling blogs and other online platforms to sift data and tailor them to each user's liking. As AI advances, it will ultimately be able to provide users with the best filtered and unbiased data possible.

Some futurists also call Web 3.0 the Spatial Web as it aims to blur the line between the physical and the digital by revolutionizing graphics technology, bringing into clear focus three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds.

Unlike their 2D counterparts, 3D graphics bring a new level of immersion not only in futuristic gaming applications like Decentraland, but also other sectors like real estate, health, e-commerce, and many more.

The new internet will provide a more personal and customized browsing experience, a smarter and more human-like search assistant, and other decentralized benefits that are hoped will help to establish a more equitable web. This will be achieved by empowering each individual user to become a sovereign over their data, and creating a richer overall experience thanks to the myriad of innovations that is to come once it is in place.

When Web 3.0 inevitably arrives — as hard as it is to fathom considering how smart devices have already changed our behavioral patterns — the internet will become exponentially more integrated in our daily lives.

We will see nearly all of today’s normally offline machines, from home appliances like ovens, vacuums, and refrigerators to all types of transport become part of the IoT economy, interacting with its autonomous servers and decentralized applications (DApps), advancing new digital realms like blockchain and digital assets to power a myriad of new tech “miracles” for the 21st century.

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