Introduction to Web 3.0

Web 3.0is slated to be the new paradigm in web interaction and will mark a fundamental change in how developers create websites,

You have probably heard the term “web 3.0” floating around the internet. Simply put, web 3.0 is the new phase of the internet’s evolution. The changes that web 3.0 is bringing to the internet is going to take it to a whole new level. Computer scientists and Internet experts believe that these changes are going to make the internet smarter and our lives easier. So, to understand these paradigm-shifting changes, let’s first look at the evolution of the internet as we know it.

Web 1.0

Believe it or not, there used to be a version of the internet that existed before social media and video streaming! This was a time before Google in the mid-to-late ’90s. The internet used to be dominated by AltaVista and Netscape. Back then the internet existed to only advertise their brick-and-mortar companies. These websites were “read-only web,” meaning you were only allowed to search for information and read it.

Most e-commerce websites are still web 1.0 in nature since the concept behind them is simple. Present products to the customers and take money from the ones who are interested. These websites are usually very smooth and fast, however, the level of user interaction is minimalistic.

Web 2.0

The next iteration of the internet was called the “web 2.0” or the “read-write” web. Now, users were not just idle visitors, they could create their own content and upload it to a website. Starting roughly around 2003 when the term was coined by Dale Dougherty, Vice President at O’Reilly Media, web 2.0 has taken over the world by storm. In just over a decade, it has completely redefined marketing and business operations.

Instagram Influencers can make or break a brand by posting one single photo, Yelp reviewers can destroy a restaurant by one single negative review. Audience reviews are critical when it comes to buying decisions. According to a survey, 90 percent of customers reading online reviews before purchasing and 88 percent of them trusting them as much as a personal recommendation.

Web 2.0’s main aim was to make the internet more democratic and make it as user-accessible as possible.

Web 3.0

Every time you buy something on Amazon, the website’s algorithm will look at the other items that people who have purchased your product went on buy and then recommends that to you. So, think about what is going on here. The website is learning from other users what your preferred choices can be and then use it to recommend to you what you may like. In essence, the website itself is learning and becoming more intelligent.

That, in a nutshell, is the very philosophy behind web 3.0. Web 1.0 was primarily driven by content that came from the business or the institution for its customers. Web 2.0 took things a little bit further by allowing users to upload and share their content on the website itself. Web 3.0 allows online applications and websites to receive information that’s on the Web and give new information/data to the users.

The 4 Properties of Web 3.0

To understand the nuances and subtleties of Web 3.0, let’s look at the four properties of Web 3.0:

  • Semantic Web

Thanks to semantic metadata, Web 3.0 will help in greater connectivity between data. As a result, the user experience evolves to another level of connectivity that leverages all the available information.

  • Artificial Intelligence

AI will allow websites to filter and present users the best data possible. Currently in web 2.0, we have started taking user opinions to help us understand the quality of a particular product/asset. Think of a website like Rotten Tomatoes where users get to vote on a list of movies. Movies with a higher rating are usually considered “good movies”. Lists like these help us get to the “good data” without going through “bad data.”

  • 3D Graphics

Web 3.0 is going to change the future of the internet develops from the simple 2D web into a more realistic three-dimensional cyberworld. The three-dimensional design is being used extensively in websites and services in Web 3.0 such as online games, e-commerce, real-estate industry etc.

  • Ubiquitous

Ubiquitous means the idea of existing or being everywhere, especially at the same time i.e., omnipresent. We have already got this feature in Web 2.0. Think of social media websites like Instagram, users capture images on the camera and they can upload and distribute it online where they become their intellectual property. The image thus becomes accessible everywhere aka ubiquitous.

In the next blog we will look at the advantages and disadvantages of Web 3.0 and the various challenges that it has to overcome.

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