What is Web 3.0?

Introduction

Web 3.0 is an iteration of the internet that combines AI, algorithms, IoT, blockchain, and more. It aims to create a more interconnected and decentralized internet.

With the emergence of computers and the World Wide Web, human society enters into an information era, which allows easier, faster and cheaper transmission of information. The popularity of e-mail, mobile devices, and instant messaging software has accelerated message transmission. The interaction between people becomes more frequent and is no longer limited by distance.

The early phase of the web, known as Web 1.0, only achieved one-way information dissemination. The current form of web we are experiencing is Web 2.0, which allows more dynamic interactions among internet users. Benefiting from the success of the Internet, we have seen huge improvements in almost every aspect of our life: human productivity has been greatly improved, business exchanges between companies and cross-border trades are booming, social media platforms have emerged, e-commerce thrives, and exchanges of knowledge, culture and creativity have extended from real life to the Internet.

With the development of blockchain technology, a new generation of the web - Web 3.0 as we call it today - has emerged. Web 3.0 utilizes blockchain, cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), artificial intelligence, and virtual reality to exchange and transfer resources in an easier way. People will be able to handle issues more efficiently. The web will penetrate into every aspect of life, and the boundaries between real life and the Internet will become increasingly blurred.

The Evolution of the Web

Web applications are so common in today’s world. If you want to listen to music, just go to Spotify. If you want to shop online, visit Amazon. If you want to record or share your emotions, you can upload photos or share articles on Instagram or Twitter. If you want to go out for fun, it would be a good idea to check out TripAdvisor for guidance first. All of these seem so natural today.

However, it actually took a long time for these services to develop. Based on the technologies it used, the period it lasted, and the way it interacts with people, the web can be partitioned into the following three phases:

Web 1.0
In the early 1990s, all the websites we could see on the Internet were static pages, resembling newspapers or bulletin boards. All the content is shown as static HTML pages written by the website builder (usually a company). Internet users were receiving information in a passive way.

Although the technologies of URI/URL and HTTP protocols provide people with more channels to obtain information, Internet users cannot interact with each other, nor can they register an account, publish an article, or upload a photo. Users visiting a webpage seem to be looking for the books they want to read in a large library according to the labels of the books. There is no customized service - everyone sees the same content, and they rarely interact with each other. They just read these books by themselves.

Most users are only consumers of content as creating personal content on the web is a technical issue. So the web in this phase is also called the “read-only” web.

Web 2.0
Since the 2000s, the adoption of technologies, including Javascript and HTML5, has created various interactive services, such as Blog, streaming media, RSS, social networking software, instant messaging, and more. This changes the way people interact with the web from one-way reception to two-way communication. People can create and share their own content, and the interaction between internet participants has greatly increased. Webpages are no longer static, but are presented in different styles to fit user preferences.

In the process of transitioning from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, large tech giants like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon have been the catalysts. They built centralized platforms that can not only lower the technical barrier required to publish personal content but collect user information through cookies in order to provide customized services.

At present, almost all web-based applications and platforms are built on Web 2.0. Internet users become content creators. And large tech giants, while receiving a variety of cheap, convenient services, have obtained extensive data that can be used for product development and advertising to generate revenue. For this reason, Web 2.0 is called a “read-write” Internet.

Web 3.0
The evolution of Web 2.0 has changed the way the Internet world looks. Large platforms have risen and monopolized web traffic. Though these platforms have helped improve efficiency, they have also incurred users’ concerns about centralization and privacy breaches. When using the so-called “free” services, people are actually compromising their personal information.
Actually, users themselves are the products of these platforms. The content we publish belongs to the platform, which brings traffic to the company that runs the platform; all the information you retrieve will be recorded and might be sold to advertisers for marketing purposes.

The permissionless, trustless and decentralized nature of blockchain provides a solution to the dilemma of Web 2.0. Gavin Wood, the co-founder of Ethereum, coined the term Web 3.0 and proposed his vision in 2014. He thought NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) can return the power from large-scale platforms to users themselves, redefine the way resources are distributed, and regain privacy for users. In the world of Web 3.0, intermediaries will be removed; people can interact and communicate with each other in a free, direct way, and gain ownership to maintain their identity and value on the Internet. So Web 3.0 can be regarded as a “read-write-own” Internet.

What is Web 3.0?

There is no standard definition of what Web 3.0 is. But to put it simply, Web 3.0 can be seen as a better Internet, which inherits all the advantages of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 while getting rid of their disadvantages. It is an integration of several fields, including blockchain, the Internet of Things, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, etc. Generally, Web 3.0 has the following features:

1. Decentralized
   The services and platforms of Web 3.0 will no longer be controlled by centralized institutions. Instead, they will be owned jointly by its builders and community members, which eliminates the conflict between customers and stakeholders. With NFTs and cryptocurrencies, participants will possess special status and roles in governance; with smart contracts, DAOs endow community members with rights and obligations. Governance enables participants to have shared goals and strive for the common benefit of the community.

2. Permissionless
   Everyone has the equal right to participate in Web 3.0. The Internet will become more open to all without excluding anyone in any region. Users will never be deprived of the right to use services or platforms due to censorship or service freezing.

3. Pay with Cryptocurrencies
   Web 3.0 services will be offered on blockchain. The distributed ledger technology and smart contracts will be adopted to achieve different functions. All the spending and money transferring will be completed via cryptocurrencies, instead of relying on traditional financial institutions, banks or other payment channels.

4. Trustless
   Web 3.0 services are executed automatically by smart contracts. Users can trust the transparent blockchain and open-source codes. The platform will ensure the sustainability of the overall system with incentive mechanisms and tokenomics, and will eliminate the need for third-party intermediaries and rent-seeking issues.

5. Ubiquitous
   To some extent, smartphones have made Web 2.0 services ubiquitous. For example, Instagram allows for taking and sharing photos at any time, and Google Maps’ travel guidance service is available in most areas. In the future, the IoT technology will expand network services to more than just computers and wearable devices, it will cover every aspect of our life.

6. Semantic Web
   Semantic refers to the study of the meaning of the words. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the web and a computer scientist, proposed his vision of the future web in 1999:
   “I have a dream for the Web in which computers become capable of analyzing all the data on the Web—the content, links, and transactions between people and computers.”
   Due to the breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and neural networks, chatbots like GPT-3 that can understand and generate human languages have been developed. The semantic web in the future will be able to interpret users’ minds and build better synergy between humans and machines.

7. Artificial Intelligence
   Semantic web is just the beginning of the application of artificial intelligence in Web 3.0. Machines that can communicate and interact with humans can not only provide more customized services, but also improve themselves through self-learning and become partners of humans in everyday life and work. Machines can help automate many routine tasks. They can be consultants or advisors, providing suggestions for users’ decision-making.

8. Virtual reality and 3D experience
   High-speed networks and IoT technologies will help bring everything in the digital world to real life. VR/AR wearable and projection devices will become more popular. Items, scenes, characters and interactive ways that were only available in games or animation videos in the past will be presented in a three-dimensional way, bringing a new sense of immersion in many fields, such as games, e-commerce, and event exhibitions.

Why Is Web 3.0 Important?

Web 3.0 is still in its infancy, with no mass adoption or significant impact on people’s daily life. However, the characteristics of Web 3.0 will finally make it an important force in shaping human society.

Regain ownership
Web 3.0 allows people to regain ownership of digital assets through non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It provides an alternative solution to the needs of endorsement of a third-party notary institution in real life, such as education, work experience, real estate ownership, business contracts, identity certificates, item manufacturing resumes, and even personal reputations. No governments or institutions can deprive or forge the ownership of NFTs. NFTs will be widely used in every aspect of life, not only in cultural artworks.

The new interactive approach emphasizes personal privacy and is resistance to censorship
As Web 3.0 removes intermediaries from online interactions, large enterprises will no longer control user data, which allows users to protect their privacy and reduce the risk of censorship by the governments or corporates. Legal enforcement, account freezing and refusal to provide services will no longer be a threat to Web 3.0 users. When users do not trust a platform any longer, they can transfer their digital identities and assets to other platforms at any time.

Individuals have the opportunity to be the controller
In the world of Web 2.0, almost all of the economic value provided by users (or content producers) is monopolized by large platforms. On apps such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, 100% of advertising revenues by monetizing user data and traffic go to institutions and investors. Even on platforms like Youtube and App Store that encourage content creation, over 30% of the revenues are still controlled by enterprises. U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres once commented, “You know something is profoundly wrong with our economy when Big Tech has a higher take rate than the mafia.”

In contrast, Web 3.0-oriented platforms return economic value back to producers in the online world. For example, the NFT trading platform OpenSea only charges 2.5% of the total sales of art creators as operating expenses. It is estimated that in 2021, NFT sales on OpenSea brought nearly $3.9 billion in revenue to creators, nearly four times the amount of creator incentives Meta announced to provide in 2022. Users no longer need to make a hard choice between staying on the high-ratio platform but begging for revenue and leaving the platform but losing traffic and exposure. Web 3.0 platforms allow creators to transform from slave labor in the business pyramid to web business operators.

Changes in social organizations
Human civilization has been built on many frameworks since ancient times. Politically, people living in different regions have to comply with the regulations and restrictions of the national government. Economically, most people are employed by corporations; they provide labor in exchange for income. The emergence of DAOs allows Web 3.0 participants to transcend these frameworks and barriers, and build different social landscapes in new ways.

More and more people are joining DAOs and contributing to the communities to earn income, in ways of playing games, learning new skills, involving in sports, making artistic creations, or leading community discussions. The fruits of the economy will gradually shift from business value created by enterprises to the contributions of people in the Web 3.0 ecosystem. Perhaps one day, many people will leave the company and the country they live in, choose where they like to live and what they want to do freely, and build a utopia of decentralized autonomous residents somewhere on this planet.

Web 3.0 Limitations

Despite the promising future of Web 3.0, there are still some challenges and problems to be overcome before transitioning from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0. These challenges include:

1. Network Scalability and Stability
   Compared with Web 2.0, Web 3.0 network is unreliable and slow in speed. This is because Web 3.0 services are built on decentralized blockchains and the load they can bear is limited by the transactions they can process per second and the stability of the network. In 2022, there are only about 3% of the world’s population holding cryptocurrencies, but it still takes over 24 hours for transactions on some blockchains to be complete. To make Web 3.0 more popular, it is necessary to overcome these technical bottlenecks to accommodate a larger user base.

2. Accessibility
   Although blockchain technology makes on-chain transaction costs an absolute advantage for certain functions (such as cross-border transfers), it is still daunting for many people in developing countries. That means current Web 3.0 services and applications are still targeted at richer, more developed economies. Many developers are trying to address this issue. For example, the recent network upgrade and layer 2 scaling solution on Ethereum will hopefully make it easier for everyone to use Web 3.0 services in their daily lives.

3. Education and User Experience
   Web 3.0 services provide bad user experience. It is partly because of the high technical barrier to access Web 3.0 services, as users must learn to use decentralized wallets, and understand DeFi, security concerns and various technical documentations. It is unrealistic for every user to be well educated before using it. In addition to promoting education of Web 3.0, providing more intuitive services is essential for.

4. Centralized infrastructure
   As Web 3.0 is very young, many infrastructures are still in the form of Web 2.0. For example, the protocol and development team of a blockchain are decentralized, but its infrastructure is centralized: the code is stored on GitHub, the community is run on Discord, and public media messages are published on Twitter. Once the centralized infrastructure is no longer available, the Web 3.0 services built on it will be disabled too. At present, many Web 3.0 projects are developing relevant applications to fill these gaps.

5. Lack of supervision and arbitration
   In a permissionless, trustless decentralized world that eliminates third-party intermediaries, all participants are free, entitled to equal rights, and not subject to any rules. However, these rights might be abused to conduct malicious behaviors, such as spreading disinformation, posting hate speeches, inciting cybercrimes, stealing digital assets, and engaging in acts of vandalism. It is difficult for governments and institutions to deal with these issues. While in the Web 3.0 world, incentives can be established to encourage participants to contribute to the development of the web, rather than incurring more social problems.

Web 3.0 Paradigms

Many products and services are in the process of transitioning from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0. It is not easy to predict what the future Web 3.0 world will be like, but it is certain that the development of these products and services will focus on daily necessities of food, clothing, housing, transportation, education, and entertainment as always, but will do better.
For example, the emergence of Uber, a transportation network platform, has enabled people all over the world to enjoy the ride-sharing service. You can either find vehicles willing to provide rides or register as drivers to earn extra income. Web 3.0 can take a step forward based on Uber’s business model and build a decentralized transportation network spreading all over the globe.

Airbnb, an accommodation rental website, allows travelers to find a place to live in almost any city. It is a representative of the sharing economy in human society. There will be more digital nomads in the future Web 3.0 world, where people integrate travel and work into daily life. There will also be greater demands for decentralized accommodation services that are safe, reliable, and protect user privacy. Decentralized accommodation platforms similar to Airbnb will be established, and “home everywhere” will no longer be an unrealistic dream.

Khan Academy, an education platform, provides an alternative learning channel for students in remote areas with underdeveloped educational resources, or for students who are not accustomed to traditional school education. It offers a wide range of courses, including economics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, history, astronomy, art, computer, etc. All of them are delivered online through videos and electronic blackboards, allowing teachers and students all over the world to interact with each other. With the development of Web 3.0 and online media news, there will be an increasing number of decentralized, open education communities, and the focus of learning will shift from school education to knowledge learning in different facets of life.

Entering Web 3.0

Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies will play an important role in the upcoming Web 3.0 revolution, if you want to also participate in this event, follow these steps:

1. Create a cryptocurrency wallet
   Cryptocurrencies are the payment method specified by many Web 3.0 applications. It is a must to master how to use a cryptocurrency wallet.

2. Find a community
   Many social media platforms provide extensive information about Web 3.0. You can find many like-minded friends and share with them on Reddit, Twitter, Telegram, or Discord, etc.

3. Explore Web 3.0 applications
   Although most applications are still transitioning from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0, using these services proactively will make it easier to understand what Web 3.0 applications will look like. You can try selling NFTs on OpenSea, publish articles on the writing platform Matters, upload videos on Odysee, or play blockchain games like Axie Infinity.

4. Join a DAO
   Many Web 3.0 projects have DAOs governed by community members. Submitting proposals or participating in voting can help you better understand how DAOs work.

5. Become a developer of Web 3.0 applications
   The technology and blockchain network are developing rapidly. So many economic, environmental, political and social problems need to be solved. If you have any creative ideas that can solve these issues using blockchain, you may have the potential to be the inventor of the next killer Web 3.0 application.

A Decentralized Future

In the thousands of years of human civilization, people have begun to distinguish each other in various ways - national boundaries are drawn on the interconnected land, and classes and identities are established. Although people have seen dramatic improvements in living standards, the unfair distribution and monopoly of resources have caused many problems.

With the development of Web 3.0, we will have the opportunity to reshape the whole society. In a decentralized network, all participants are equal. DAOs will allow people to do their best, get what they need, and obtain resources while providing services. Artificial intelligence and the semantic web will help computers better serve human beings, and “Ask and it is given” may be an authentic depiction of the future world.

It is hard to predict what impact Web 3.0 will have on the world. Perhaps countries and institutions will disappear one day, and we may also have to redefine the term “family” so as to include broader web identities and groups. The Web 3.0 revolution has begun. Let us witness how it will evolve in the future!