You have often heard the words “Web 2.0” and “Web 3.0” in the blockchain world. In this article, we will share with you what Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 mean and which one is better.
To understand what “Web 3.0” is, we need to go back to Web 1.0 and start from there.
Web 1.0 Was the First Stage of the Web
At this stage, web pages where content was served on the server’s file system were static. Moreover, there was no interaction on these pages. Users on the Internet were in a passive position.
The Web 1.0 period, known as the most primitive period of the Internet, is shown as the period when the user only observes the Internet and cannot create their own content.
Web 1.0 lasted from the late 1980s to 2005.
The Next Stage of the Web Was Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is the web as we know it today.
Instead of static content, the web has become the place for dynamic content where users can now interact with content posted on the web. This user interaction was made possible by the invention of technologies such as JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, which allow developers to create applications where users can interact with content in real time.
Social media, blogging, podcasting or social bookmarking etc. Applications such as Web 2.0 are completely interactive. We interact through texts and comments and can easily add and share content such as pictures and music with other people. Some of the important applications developing in Web 2.0 are as follows: Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and of course Google. This is why this era of the web is also called the “Social Web”.
The Next Stage of the Web Is Called Web 3.0
Web 3.0, which is defined as “making sense of the contents transferred to the virtual world with the Web 2.0 revolution”; It points to a web environment where the control of the internet is out of the hands of humans, data is structured and labeled in a way that can be read directly by computers, interpreted with software solutions such as artificial intelligence approaches and techniques and made “intelligent”.
Web 3.0 is a Semantic Web. This shows that we can use artificial intelligence to search for the meaning of content on the web, rather than just searching for content based on keywords or numbers. This allows machines to understand and interpret information like humans. The main purpose of the Semantic Web is to make it easier for users to find, share and consolidate information.
However, these days the term “Web 3.0” has evolved to mean much more than just the Semantic web. More specifically, blockchain enthusiasts who build DApps use the term “Web 3.0” to build applications in an open and decentralized way.
So, the overarching goal of Web 3.0 is to make the internet much smarter, autonomous and open. It does this through the use of technologies such as artificial intelligence, Blockchain, 3D graphics, virtual reality and augmented reality.
With artificial intelligence, we can better understand and interpret content on the web.
We can use blockchains to build applications on decentralized protocols where we eliminate middlemen and gain public verifiable. That way, we’re not stuck in a paradigm where everything on the internet is surrounded by walls.
Instead of the ad-based model we have today, we can use cryptocurrencies to transform the business model of applications that exist on the internet.
As Chris Dixon puts it, we’ve taken a “wrong path” with the current social network, allowing for walled gardens and advertising-based business models. The next version of the web will be built on open protocols and have a built-in business model through cryptocurrency.
Beyond artificial intelligence, blockchains and crypto, Web 3.0 will use 3D graphics and technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality to make our web experience much more immersive.
Tim Berner-Lee, the founder of the World Wide Web, explained all these stages with the following words;
- Web 1.0 is the “readable” stage of the web. There was limited interaction between users.
- Web 2.0 is the “writable” stage of the web where users can interact with the site and with each other.
- Web 3.0 is the “executable” stage of the web, where computers can interpret information such as people and then create personalized content for users.