In this blog I am going to discuss about Web 3.0, next major iteration of the internet, one in which users will take back control from the centralized corporations, big giants who have access to our data and who are currently dominating the web!

Yes, Web 3.0 is for us and not gonna be for bigger corporations.

So lets understand what Web 3.0 is.

Its a new way for individuals to use the internet without giving up their data or information or any valuable personal stuff to some bigger corporations.

Before we directly jump into Web 3.0, we first need to understand what Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 are.

What is Web 1.0?

The first phase of internet, which is Web 1.0 is all kind of static. It was all static instead of dynamic. Meaning, there were few static html pages containing some static data about something. For example Wikipedia. Web 1.0 is all about just consuming content but not for putting out your content. In other words, Web 1.0 is only about reading and not writing.

Now you get a clarity about what Web 1.0 is, lets move to the next phase Web 2.0.

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is all about Social Media! So in this next phase of internet, Web 2.0, we all started putting out content in the internet. It includes the platforms we use right now like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google etc. Now this internet become more social and collaborative and we all started exchanging information within ourselves.

The main problem with Web 2.0!

Whatever websites we use in the current generation are all based on Web 2.0 where you provide your details to different platforms, websites and apps which are owned by big corporations. But, in the mean time what happened was, due to this constant sharing of data by millions of people to some set of companies, has become the biggest disadvantage of Web 2.0 right now. Due to all of this, there is a huge issue in our privacy being intruded and our personal data is being misused.

The sad part is, this issue is kind of invisible and people are not caring about it. The fact is all the personal information that we are putting out is controlled by bigger corporations like Facebook, Google etc. Based upon this, we are being sold information back to us! We are being treated like somebody who is just giving them information to build algorithms for their applications and social media.

This is kind of a lifestyle we have build ourselves today.

Web 3.0

This is the reason the Web 3.0 came in. It is going to change the way we use internet. It is not yet there, its still being developed. This is the reason there is no Wikipedia kind of definition for it and I am sure it will never be as well. Because, Web 3.0 refers to a kind of internet that is build upon decentralized networks such as cryptocurrency coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum and so on.

The key innovation

The key innovation of all these networks is, all these platforms which are build upon decentralized networks are not based upon some kind of information we provide to them. We don't have to create our accounts by filling in our details like email and all. Meaning, the platforms that were created using Web 3.0, don't require any single entity. They don't require a parent corporation.

This is because, every user of these networks must be following set of hard coded rules which are also called as Consensus protocols. We are not going deep into it right now, because lot of times its not required for a normal user to deeply understand the underlying technologies used and they will be fine until they know how to use them. For example, if you are using internet, do you even care about things like HTTPS, TCP-IP which are said to be protocols for Web 2.0? We obviously don't care about that unless we are hard-core programmers.

Another thing which is awesome about Web 3.0 is that these networks allow value/money to be transferred between accounts safely. So, the two main highlights of Web 3.0 are decentralization and the way we deal with our finances.

Who invented Web 3.0?

You might ask me the question, who invented Web 3.0? Now, that's the mazic. There is no single creator of Web 3.0. Instead its just an eco-system where decentralized applications would be build upon. These includes some blockchain technologies like Ethereum, Bitcoin and so on. And they are recognized as leading way to Web 3.0, especially Ethereum right now.

DApps

Open-source software that work on the blockchain technology are called DApps. In another words, all the applications that were build using one of the above explained decentralized platforms are called DApps.

Some common features of Dapps are:

• Open Source. Ideally, it should be governed by autonomy and all changes must be decided by the set of protocols, or a majority, of its users. Its code base should be openly available.

• Decentralized. All records of the application’s operation must be stored on a public and decentralized blockchain to avoid drawbacks of centralization.

• Incentivized. Validators of the blockchain should be incentivized by rewarding them accordingly with cryptographic tokens.

• Protocol. The application community must agree on a cryptographic algorithm to show proof of value.

For instance, would you believe that you can earn money by just surfing on the internet? Sounds crazy right? Actually its not possible till now in Web 2.0 but there are few DApps that can allow us to do that. One of it was Brave Browser. This browser is build upon BAT(Basic Attention Token) token. Interesting right.

Like this, there are many web 3.0 DApps that are being created right now. Especially for sending money securely between each other.

#Conclusion

The biggest advantage of Web 3.0 is that it attempts to address the biggest problem resulted from Web 2.0 which is the personal data of people being given to big companies that ultimately being sold to someone else for business and thereby intruding our privacy. This problem will not be there in Web 3.0.

Also, the way we are going to deal with financial transactions in these decentralized apps (DApps) also gonna be crucial. Instead of relying on some set of banks that are tied to governments which have border restrictions like sending money to other countries or wait for some overseas transactions which takes days to process, DApps will remove all these hassles. It would be like within seconds your transactions will happen without anyone's intervention.

I am concluding this article by stressing out on key points like:

In Web 3.0:

• Users own their own data, not corporations
• Global digital transactions are secure
• Online exchanges of information and value are decentralized

Hope you understand what Web 3.0 is and this might be a first step for you to explore more about it. Because, Web 3.0 is undoubtedly the future that we are all waiting for!