Technology helps our world evolve; from manual transmission cars, we have moved to automatic and even self-driving cars using artificial intelligence. Each technological discovery presents a new way for humans to better our lives; these evolutions and developments are also present in our internet protocols.

To keep it short, the internet has moved from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 and is moving even closer to Web 3.0. Although this article mainly focuses on the differences between the current (web 2.0) and the future (Web 3.0), we will take a trip down memory lane to get a grasp of the internet’s evolution.

Brief History of The Internet’s Evolution

In the 90s, when the internet was first invented, it was very limited. Web 1.0 was static and sometimes referred to as the “read-only” web because interaction was almost inexistent – people could only read information, but couldn’t comment, contribute, or respond. Furthermore, web 1.0 was heavily limited in graphical content sharing, and all information was just written on a page for people to read. At the time, though, people were delighted; it brought a huge change into their lives as they got to read real-time news via the internet, and privileged organizations could transmit information to many people via email newsletters.

Web 2.0, a.k.a. the “social” web, is where we currently exist. With technological advancements, many improvements were made to the internet protocol present in web 1.0. As a result, web 2.0 was built for user-generated content that allowed easy interaction using centralized databases to store information. As a result, we can use social media and have several rounds of communication that can be retrieved from the databases anytime we want. Furthermore, with web 2.0, several kinds of visual media can be shared; we can send and receive emails, respond to people and tag others to posts, and even make video calls. Hence, the interaction that was missing in Web 1.0 was abundant in Web 2.0, so we saw the rise of FAANG companies and other new-gen technologies that relied on databases and interactive communication.

Web 2.0 solved many problems associated with web 1.0; however, it brought along some new problems with the use of databases. Billions of people use the internet to communicate, research, and practically do everything, and all these actions are stored in centralized databases of big tech companies. As a result, these companies milk user data (a.k.a. confidential information) to provide targeted advertisements to people; that is why it’s no surprise to notice that many of the advertisements you see on the internet are a result of your past activity (your social media following, online searches, frequent words used, frequent sites visited), etc. Worse, big tech companies still sell these data to other companies, and your privacy is entirely breached.

Web 3.0, a.k.a. the blockchain-based internet, is the future of the internet. Its core concept is the decentralization of data, which takes away information from a central source to improve the privacy and security of internet users; indeed, if your privacy is breached, you aren’t secure. Hence, web 3.0 seeks to ensure decentralization via blockchain technology to see that user data is spread across several sources, helping to assure security.

Additionally, Web 3.0 aims to up the level of interaction via artificial intelligence and machine learning; hence, via technologies like IoT, humans and machines can have two-way communication. In web 3.0, machines can not only read data but can interpret data to effectively satisfy each internet user; as a result, many people refer to Web 3.0 as the “semantic” web.

Core Differences Between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0

Final Takeaway

Web 3.0 is set to change our internet experience via Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and the blockchain. As a result, machines will not only be capable of reading information on the internet but will be able to interpret them like humans, helping to ease the navigation of humans on the internet. For example, if you currently search with the query “restaurants around me,” the internet will respond with a list of restaurants in your location and their generic information. However, web 3.0 can do a lot more; rather than sharing generic information, the semantic web will return the information with the available restaurants, what they are known for, their best dishes, and a lot more information that eases the internet usage, due to the ability of machines to interpret information like humans.

For more details on Web 3.0, the metaverse, and the relation to crypto adoption, please read this article

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