If you are reading this, you are a participant in the modern web. Today's web is substantially different from the one that existed just ten years ago. What changes have been made to the internet over time, and more importantly, where is it going? Why do any of these things, as well, matter?
The growth of the Web
Due to the web's rapid evolution over time, its current uses hardly resemble those of its early years. The web has evolved through three distinct stages: Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0.
Specifying Web 1.0
Web 1.0 was the name of the first iteration of the internet. The majority of participants were content consumers, while the majority of content creators were web designers who built websites with content that was mainly provided in text or image format. Web 1.0 was around from 1991 to 2004.
Web 1.0 sites only offered static content; they did not offer dynamic HTML. Data and content were provided from a static file system rather than a database, and there was relatively no interaction on the websites.
Frequently referred to as the read-only web, Web 1.0.
Specifying Web 2.0
Most of us have only ever used web2, which is the most recent version of the web. The social and interactive web is a term used frequently to describe Web2.
To participate in the creation process in the web2 universe, you don't need to be a developer. Many apps are designed to be simple to create by anyone.
You have the capacity to develop an idea and propagate it around the globe. Millions of people can view, engage with, and comment on a video that you share online.
Because Web2 is actually relatively simple, an increasing number of people worldwide are beginning to use it.
The web is great in many ways as it is, but there are many places where we can make big improvements.
Web 2.0 Monetization and Security
Numerous well-known apps in the web2 sector have a consistent life cycle. Think about a handful of the applications you use frequently and how the examples that follow might apply to those applications.
Monetization of apps
Think about how well-liked early versions of apps like Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or YouTube were compared to how they are now. The process typically looks something like this:
A company makes an app.
It welcomes as many individuals as it can.
As a result, the user base becomes profitable.
The user interface is typically extremely seamless when a business or developer develops a well-liked app, and this trend continues as the app's popularity rises. They first gain momentum quickly as a result of this.
Many software companies don't initially devote much thought to monetization. They only focus on user growth and retention, but eventually they must turn a profit.
The contributions of outside investors must also be considered. Accepting restrictions like those on startup capital frequently has a negative effect on the longevity and, ultimately, the user experience of many of the applications we use today.
Investors in a business that is creating an application usually want to get back tens or even hundreds of times what they put in.
This means that instead of pursuing an organic growth plan, the company is typically encouraged to take one of two directions: selling personal data or running advertisements.
Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other web2 companies use more data to provide more individualised marketing. This leads to more clicks, which boosts ad revenue.
The exploitation and consolidation of user data is the foundation for the core functioning of the web as we know and use it today.
Security and privacy
Data breaches frequently happen with Web2 apps. There are even websites that keep tabs on these hacks and alert consumers when their data has been compromised.
In web2, you have no control over how your data is saved or used. In reality, companies regularly gather and store user information without the users' consent. All of this data is then owned and controlled by the companies in charge of these platforms.
Users who live in countries where the harmful impacts of free expression must be taken into account are also at risk.
A government will frequently shut down servers or seize bank accounts if it thinks someone is expressing an idea that is in opposition to its propaganda. Thanks to centralised servers, governments can simply interfere, control, or stop programmes as needed.
Government involvement in banking is common due to its centralization and computerization. They can obstruct access to bank accounts or limit access to money when there is unrest, rising inflation, or other political instability.
Web3 aims to overcome many of these problems by fundamentally redesigning how we build and use applications.
Specifying Web 3.0
There are several significant differences between web2 and web3, but decentralisation is at the heart of each.
Web3 enhances the internet as we currently know it with a few new capabilities. web3 is:
Verifiable
Trustless
Self-governing
Permissionless
Robust and dispersed
Stateful
Native integrated payments
For web3 programmes, developers hardly ever use a single server or database (usually hosted on and managed by a single cloud provider).
On the other hand, Web3 apps either run on decentralised networks of many peer-to-peer nodes (servers), blockchains, or a combination of the two to build a cryptoeconomic protocol. These programmes are usually referred to as "dapps," or "decentralised apps," a term that is frequently used in the web3 environment. Additionally, based on your preferences and personality, Web3 Development Firm may be able to design for you unique metaverse worlds or games.
In order to build a robust and secure decentralised network, network participants (developers) are driven and competitive to provide the highest calibre services to all users.
It offers financial incentives to anyone who wants to assist in creating, managing, advancing, or otherwise contributing to one of the projects (tokens).
These protocols might offer cloud services including computation, storage, bandwidth, identity, hosting, and others.
The protocol offers a variety of technological and non-technical alternatives for people to support themselves.
Users of the service often pay to use the protocol, much as they would already pay a cloud provider like AWS. With the exception of web3, network users get payments directly.
You'll observe that intermediates that serve no use and are typically ineffectual are eliminated in this, as they are in many other instances of decentralisation.
Tribal payments
Tokens also allow for a seamless, completely international native payment system. Businesses like Stripe and Paypal have made billions of dollars by permitting electronic payments.
Despite being exceedingly complex, these systems do not permit genuine participant interoperability on a global level. You must also give your sensitive information and private information in order to use them.
Using crypto wallets like MetaMask and Torus, you can integrate swift, anonymous, and secure international payments and transactions into web3 applications.
Contrary to the current banking system, users do not have to go through numerous cumbersome procedures in order to use the network.
All they need to do is download or install a wallet to start sending and receiving money without any gatekeeping.
A novel approach to forming businesses
Tokens are also responsible for the idea of tokenization and the creation of a token economy.
Consider the growth of a software company as an example. Someone has an idea, but they first need to buy food for themselves before they can start to develop.
To raise the money, they look for venture capital funding and sell a piece of their company. The incentives provided by this investment aren't in line with what will ultimately lead to the best customer experience.
Even if the company is profitable, it will take a long time for anybody involved to realise any value, which will lead to years of labour with no reward.
Imagine a novel, interesting project tackling a significant problem. Anyone can begin developing it or investing in it.
The company releases a set amount of tokens, distributes 10% to early contributors, and holds onto the remaining tokens for future dividends and project financing.
When the project is open to the public, helpers can sell tokens to make money, and participants can use tokens to vote on modifications.
People can invest in and own a project if they think it will succeed, or they can sell it if they believe it is headed in the wrong direction.
Buyers have total access to and visibility into all of the data on the blockchain, which is public.
In contrast, many decisions are usually made in the dark when investing in private or centralising businesses.
This is already happening in the web3 space.
How Identity is Handled by Web3
Additionally, identity will operate very differently in web3 than it does now.
IDs in web3 apps most typically connect to the wallet address of the app user.
If a user wants to use the same wallet across numerous dapps, their identity may be seamlessly transferred between apps, enabling them to progressively build up their reputation.
Thanks to protocols and technologies like Ceramic and IDX, developers may already replace traditional authentication and identity layers with self-sovereign identification in their apps.
The Ethereum foundation also has a working request for proposals (RFP) for drafting a specification for "Sign in with Ethereum"; if accepted, this would help provide a better organised and documented manner of doing this going future.
This conversation is also beneficial because it offers some suggestions for how to enhance current authentication procedures.