What Is Web3 and How Will it Impact The Future?
We are on the edge of welcoming a new era of the Internet in which all your content is more customized and personalized than ever. Imagine everything you type is correctly translated, and everything you say is accurately understood through text, speech, or other media. The Internet’s third iteration, Web3, is well underway. Let’s talk about what is Web3 and how it may impact the World Wide Web.
This future interpretation of the Internet will rely on public blockchains, a distributed database used by cryptocurrency exchanges. In addition, Web3 is entirely decentralized, meaning that the Internet will be reorganized using peer-to-peer infrastructure instead of centralized data hosting.
Web2 vs Web3
Both Web2 and Web3 have distinctly different methods for creating and manipulating information. Web2 is focused on writing and reading content, while Web3 focuses on creating linked data with Semantic Web. This approach allows people to create data stores, vocabularies, and rules for handling information on the Web.
With Web2, content is owned, stored, and managed by a single central entity (the provider, company, or network). This method has proven problematic, leading to data privacy and protection concerns. Web3 is utilizing blockchain-based decentralization, which allows millions of devices linked in a network to store and access data.
Another difference between Web2 and Web3 is payments. As you already know, we pay in fiat money for all transactions on Web2. Web3 utilizes digital cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many others to enable payment transactions.
What is Web3 – Main Features
Let’s take a deeper look at the main features of Web3 and see how this technology tries to solve some of Web2 and Web1’s biggest inefficiencies.
Decentralized Data Network
Decentralization is a fundamental concept of Web3. With Web2, people use HTTP – the application layer transfer protocol to access information stored at a fixed location, often on a single server.
Web3, however, utilizes decentralized data storage. This method gives users greater control and breaks the Web2 pattern for storing information and content ownership. A decentralized data network allows individuals to store and access information while retaining complete control.
This new iteration of the Internet will be permissionless, meaning there’s no one restricting or regulating access. Everyone can join without permission. And also, Web3 will be trustless, which means users can interact in the network without relying on trusted third parties.
Semantic Web
Semantic Web is another crucial element of Web3. It’s a term invented by Tim Berners-Lee for machines being able to analyze and evaluate a web of data.
The main idea is to create a web of knowledge on the Internet that will help with word comprehension, content creation, sharing, and connection through search and analysis. In addition, semantic information on Web3 should improve the user experience by making data transmission more accessible.
Artificial Intelligence
Web3 will allow machines to interpret information similarly to the human brain through artificial intelligence and machine learning. And what is machine learning? It’s a field in artificial intelligence that focuses on building methods that mimic human learning using data and algorithms.
It’s no secret that Artificial Intelligence and its sub-fields are becoming a popular career choice for students and professionals looking for bigger challenges. And because of this, a number of online learning platforms are offering courses, certifications and even degrees for data science and machine learning and other popular AI fields.
3D Graphics
The future of the Internet will change from a straight-forward two-dimensional web into a more realistic and interactive 3D cyber world. Online gaming, e-commerce, and the real estate market are just a few examples of Web3 websites and apps that could utilize three-dimensional design.
3 Types of Web3 Applications
With blockchain at its core, Web3 opens the door for an expanding range of new applications and services. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular ones.
NFT
Non-Fungible Tokens are tokens that are individually unique and stored in a blockchain with a cryptographic hash.
DeFi
DeFi means decentralized finance and is a novel use case for Web3 that enables the provision of financial services beyond the limitations of a conventional centralized banking infrastructure.
dApps
Decentralized Apps, or dApps, run autonomously in an immutable lodger. They are constructed on top of blockchain and use smart contracts to enable faster delivery of services.