Before getting into the details of Web3, it’s vital to make the distinction between the world wide web (simply, ‘the web’) and the internet. These words are often used interchangeably in common conversation but represent different aspects of being online. The web is the collection of web pages that people access on their devices, while the internet is the global network of connected computers upon which the web works.
The web has been around since the early 1990s when it was invented and has gone through an interesting journey to get to Web3. Its first inception – Web 1.0 – mainly comprised static websites that had no interaction with users. The idea at the time was to have a platform that allowed information-sharing. This first version of the web lasted until 2004 when Web 2.0 emerged with social media platforms. This period saw open interaction between users and content, along with the growth of platforms to handle user-generated content. Web 2.0 gave birth to the advertising-driven revenue model, which has seen several companies grow into large technology entities.
With the emergence of new technologies such as blockchain and cryptocurrency, Web3 has become the term that encompasses an internet that combines these tecnhologies for a decentralised experience. User ownership of content is something that previous versions of the web didn’t address, and proponents of Web3 think it will do a better job.
This vision is something that Tahir Butt, London-based entrepreneur, is firmly behind, as he believes Web3 has the potential to revolutionise online interactions, transactions and communication.
What Does it Encompass?
A lot of what Web3 looks like is a work in progress. However, there are a few principles that developers have outlined as key to its functioning. These include:
- Making it decentralised so that interactions between users and devices will not be controlled by a centralised authority.
- Making it trustless. All actors will use the Zero Trust model, which requires every request to be verified (‘never trust, always verify’).
- Using blockchain technology so users can communicate with each other directly.
- Using a distributed ledger to track all transactions.
One of the core reasons why proponents of Web3 push for it is the benefit of control it offers users. In the current set-up, a user who purchases an in-app item can only use it when they use the application. Should the creators of the app delete a user’s account, those items are lost. However, with Web3, users will have direct ownership, and not even the application’s creators can take it away.