What is Web 3.0 And How is it Different From Web 2.0

Web 3.0 is the latest evolution in the World Wide Web, and it marks a major shift from the old web model of static web pages and hyperlinks, to one of dynamic, highly interactive experiences. Web 3.0 is also known as the Semantic Web or the “intelligent web” as it allows for more intelligent and targeted services to be delivered to users. The idea behind the Web was to make publishing possible for anyone; the idea in Web 2.0 was that readers should be writers too, Web 3.0 is intended to give any participant in the web their autonomous power and control,

Let’s discuss web 2.0 and 3.0 in greater detail.

What Is Web 2.0?

Before we talk about the new opportunities provided by Web 3.0, let’s talk about the type of internet we’ve been using for a long time: Web 2.0. A version of the internet known as Web 2.0, or the Social Web, is centred on user-generated content and social platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. It is typically regarded as Web 1.0’s successor and the second stage of the internet’s evolution.

When Tim O’Reilly, the creator of digital publisher O’Reilly Media, spoke about the idea of Web 2.0 at a conference in the early 2000s, the phrase “Web 2.0” gained traction in the tech sector. The term then started to gain popularity as individuals began to speculate about the potential benefits that Web 2.0 would bring to humanity. O’Reilly initially described Web 2.0 as “the web as a platform,” subsequently expanding it to include concepts like “democracy” and “social web.”

Since its inception and subsequent fanfare, the term “Web 2.0” has partly lost favour in popular culture. But it doesn’t mean the internet of today doesn’t still embody the ideals it stood for.

It’s crucial to understand that Web 2.0 isn’t a completely new sort of internet that stands apart from its forerunner (Web 1.0). Instead, it describes a new or evolving method of using the web. Take cloud computing as an illustration. Web 2.0 places a strong emphasis on this technology, which enables users to instantly access internet resources like computing power and storage space.

Today, like in the past, we all access the internet through centralised servers that store and process information. Although this internet business strategy isn’t necessarily harmful, it is vulnerable to hacker attacks and server problems. A centralized internet also makes it possible for a few people to hold all the information in a network at once, which is dangerous.

Web 2.0 Core Layers Of Innovation

The emergence of web 2.0 was driven mainly by three core layers of innovation:

• Mobile
• Social
• Cloud

Mobile

With the 2007 release of the iPhone, mobile connectivity to the Internet expanded, enabling users to remain online constantly. Web 2.0, however, has another use besides just absorbing the data we contribute to the internet: It also independently gathers information about us for analysis and addition to the internet. It can keep tabs on our whereabouts, spending patterns, financial transactions, and other things.

Social

The Internet was mostly secretive and anonymous before Friendster, MySpace, and eventually, Facebook appeared in 2004.

Social networks persuaded us to share photos with particular friend groups online, trust strangers with our homes on Airbnb, and even get into strangers’ cars with Uber. They also encouraged us to create and share specific types of content, including recommendations and referrals.

Cloud

The cloud commoditized the creation and upkeep of websites and applications by aggregating and streamlining mass-produced computer gear in several, enormous data centres spread throughout the globe. 

Companies might decide to rent storage, computing power, and management tools instead of purchasing and maintaining their own expensive and specialised infrastructure upfront. Low-cost resources that could scale as their firms evolved could be advantageous for millions of entrepreneurial endeavours.

Major Features of Web 2.0

• Users can retrieve and classify the information collectively thanks to free sorting.

• dynamic information that reacts to user input.

• Utilizing evaluation and online commenting, information is exchanged between the site owner and users.

• created APIs that provide self-use, such as by a software programme.

• Access to the internet raises issues that are unique to a wider range of users than the typical Internet user base.

What is Web 3.0?

Imagine a new sort of Internet where everything you consume is more tailored than ever before and where everything you type and say, whether through text, speech, or other media, is precisely translated and understood. You are about to embark on a new phase in the development of the Internet. It is known as Web 3.0.

Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the web in the first place, gave Web 3.0 the term Semantic Web. This particular kind of internet will make use of decentralised networks like bitcoin and Ethereum.

Everyone will be able to trust it because every user will adhere to the same set of consensus protocols, a set of hard-coded norms that no single entity will be able to change. The internet will become smarter or data will be processed with nearly human-like intelligence to help the user. A free, unreliable, and permissionless network will be produced. In addition, it will be:

Open: It will be developed as open-source software with full public access by a transparent and accessible community of developers.Participants will be able to communicate either openly or privately without the use of a reliable third party.

Permissionless: Neither participants—users nor suppliers—need to obtain permission from a regulatory organisation.

Key Features of Web 3.0

Decentralization: an essential Web 3.0 principle. In Web 2.0, computers use HTTP in the form of unique web addresses to look up data that is stored at a fixed location, typically on a single server. With Web 3.0, information could be found based on its content rather than a single location, potentially leading to decentralised data storage. Tearing down the massive datasets that powerful organizations of the internet like Meta and Google currently maintain, this would offer people greater control.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning: Web 3.0 will make it possible for machines to interpret information similarly to humans with the aid of the Semantic Web and technologies based on natural language processing. In addition, machine learning—a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) that uses data and algorithms to simulate human learning and steadily increase accuracy—will be incorporated into Web 3.0. These capabilities will lead to quicker and more relevant outcomes in a variety of fields like medical development and new materials rather than just targeted advertising, which accounts for the majority of current efforts.

Connectivity and ubiquity: Content and information are now easier to access across applications and with a rising number of everyday gadgets connected to the internet thanks to Web 3.0. One illustration of this is the Internet of Things.

Semantic Web: Semantics is the study of how words are related to one another. With the use of the semantic web, a computer would be able to evaluate data and decipher the meaning and emotions that are being conveyed. This will assist in providing users with a better and more enjoyable internet experience.

3D Graphics: With the introduction of Web 3.0, the three-dimensional virtual world will become a reality thanks to improved graphics technology. The usage of 3D graphics will enhance the user experience on the internet and aid in the transformation of several industries, including real estate, e-commerce, health, and others.

protocol	Web 2.0	Web 3.0
Trust Model	centralised servers, software, and servicesTrust the organisations that support them.	Decentralized; peer-to-peer; no central authority; no single point of failureTrust is minimized — trust the decentralized protocol.
Governance	Consolidation of power among the digital ambassador	Decentralized autonomous organisations (DAOs), where stakeholder groups share governance (governance token holders)
Business Model	Customer data is owned by digital behemoths and service providers and is utilised to generate income.	Transaction validators are compensated for their efforts by the blockchain network.
Content	user-generated and dynamic The original content may be copied.	Ownership by users and independence from Web 2.0 services
User Participation Model	Free services in return for user informationmonies paid to middlemen for executing services and software	Users can monetize their data and content, which they own.Paying blockchain transaction validators directly
User Interface	Web Social networks Mobile apps	Decentralized apps (dApps) Centralized marketplaces or services
Authentication	User IDs Passwords Other authentication	Private key that grants access to an owner’s records on a blockchain; the private key may be stored in a wallet that is either self-hosted or provided by a third party…
Financial systems	are centrally controlled by financial organizations and networks, including central banks	run by blockchain protocols and smart contracts, which are essentially “if, then, else” scripts There is no central authority, and there are no paid middlemen.

In general, Web 3.0 differs from Web 2.0 in that it places a greater emphasis on the use of technologies like machine learning and AI to give each user with relevant material rather than just stuff that other end users have provided. 

Users can essentially contribute to and occasionally participate in site content using Web 2.0, but these tasks will likely be handled by the semantic web and AI technology in Web 3.0. In contrast to Web 2.0’s centralization, Web 3.0 places a heavy emphasis on decentralized services and power.

Conclusion

If we look back at the read-only nature of Web 1.0, we can say that Web 2.0 evolved into the read-write era, and then Web 3.0 became the read-write-execute era. People may now connect with websites and produce more value through digital advertising than ever before. 

At this moment, it may not be a sound assumption to claim that Web 2.0 is no longer relevant in light of Web 3. Perhaps we should gladly embrace Web 3.0’s positive features that can counteract Web 2.0’s drawbacks.

The risks of centralization and security risks are some drawbacks. These issues can endanger political systems because data theft, censorship, and spam are common online. 

Due to the decentralized nature of Web 3.0, these risks are reduced as we move toward the next generation of internet services and businesses.

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