Around 30 years ago, the Internet was merely a library with a collection of static web pages that users could access from any part of the world. This read-only Internet was known as Web 1.0. Over time, with the onset of the 21'st century, the Internet progressed to be a more interactive platform with the evolution of social media, forums and data collection. That came to be known as Web 2.0.
Web 1.0 only provided data to its users, whereas Web 2.0 collected data from the public to customize the content available to each individual and sell user data to advertisers. For example, if you search for cryptocurrencies, you'll be faced with an onslaught of advertisements urging them to invest in cryptocurrencies the next day. This targeted advertising and lack of privacy lead us to the dire need for Semantic Web 3.0.
The key idea behind Web 3.0 is that centralized companies like Google and Facebook would be disassembled and decentralized. Decentralized data networks enable various data generators to trade data without risking privacy or relying on intermediaries.
Web 2.0 was built on mobile, social and cloud technologies, whereas Web 3.0 would operate on principles of artificial intelligence, edge computing and blockchain technologies. The incorporation of edge computing brings computing and data storage closer to the data, thus decreasing response time and bandwidth.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other blockchain protocols are the driving force behind the Web 3.0 movement — with the vision of an open financial system in which anyone can build and participate without using gatekeepers like traditional financial institutions.
One of the main advantages of Web 3.0 is that it supposedly enables a user to log in to the Internet without getting tracked by using Internet identity. That means that a user can utilize their digital avatar to carry out transactions, purchases or just about anything without their real identity traced. However, this heightened anonymity may even prove to be advantageous to cybercriminals.
Web 3.0 aims to be a consumer-centric web that is open-source and gives value to privacy and security. In contrast to being the product- as in Web 2.0- the user seemingly gets to be the owner of their data and gets due compensation in place of their Internet statistics. That is similar to NFTs that gives users ownership of the unique digital data they purchase. Further, Web 3.0 users could control the number of ads they see and get relief from unwanted and unskippable popups.
The semantic web focuses on ensuring that all content available on the Internet is machine-readable. Machines would not only analyze data but also comprehend the context behind it!
Despite all the hypothesizing around Web 3.0, it is still a developing concept, and a large part of it is still theoretical. But with the looming possibility of the real-world incorporating virtual and augmented reality through metaverse and the likes, we can soon expect Web 3.0 to dominate the future of the Internet.
