The World Wide Web now has billions of users thanks to the strong, reliable infrastructure that centralization has built. At the same time, a small group of centralised organizations control a sizable portion of the World Wide Web, making decisions on what should be permitted and what should not.
This conundrum has a solution in Web3. Web3 emphasizes decentralization and is created, run, and owned by its users rather than a web dominated by major technological companies. Instead of placing power in the hands of businesses, Web3 gives people that authority.
Web3 is the future of the internet because, unlike Web 1.0 & Web 2.0, it is decentralized and allows users to interact with each other without third-party intermediaries. This enables users to have more control over their data and privacy, as well as their interactions with each other. Web3 also has the potential to create new economic opportunities for people around the world by making it easier for them to trade goods and services without having to go through traditional financial institutions.
The Evolution of the Internet
Before we discuss more on Web3, let's take a look at how the World Wide Web has evolved since its early days.
Web 1.0
The original version of the web was called Web 1.0. The majority of participants were content consumers and the web was a very static resource at the time. As a content consumer, you could only provide feedback through the emails you sent to authors who were typically web developers.
This version of the web is still the standard by which the web is judged today. You can think of it in terms of reading a book. You can take in whatever you want and send a note back to the author, but the author controls the pace of the storytelling and all future feedback comes only from them.
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is all about social and user-generated content. Web 2.0 allows for two-way communication between creators and consumers of content. This was riding on the back of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, along with a host of other platforms including LinkedIn, Youtube and Reddit which allowed for a new breed of creators to reach a broader audience but controlled how data shared via their platforms is used and monetized.
Web 3.0
Between Web2 and Web3, there are a few key distinctions, but decentralization is at the core.
With a few extra features, Web3 improves the internet as we currently know it. Web3 is:
Verifiable
Trustless
Self-governing\Permissionless as well as
Robust & dispersed
Web3 provides users with an alternative to traditional centralized platforms, which are often opaque and unaccountable. It allows for the creation of Decentralised applications (Dapps) that run on a P2P (Peer 2 Peer) network of decentralised computers (blockchain) rather than a single computer. This means that they are not under the control of any one entity and so can be used to create fairer societies or economies. For example, there could be a Dapp created which allowed people to trade goods and services without having to go through traditional financial institutions.
Web 3.0 Will Transform Our Lives
The decentralization opportunity that Web3 presents has a significant impact on how we evolve as humans. It will free us from centralised regulatory third parties that constantly monetize and profit handsomely from our personal data and allow us to benefit from community-driven services as a result.
For us as female entrepreneurs, it opens up opportunities to improve transparency and trust between our businesses and our customers, increase customer loyalty and brand ambassadorship, streamline business transactions, and overall save time and money while building stronger relationships with customers.
While Web3 might still be in its early stages of development, it does hold great promise for the future.
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