The internet in the contemporary world is crawling with new-age concepts, like cryptocurrencies, blockchains, metaverse, social 2.0 and the creator economy: all of which collectively fall under an umbrella name of Web 3.0; a term which has been going around raising questions, speculations, and opinions from people all over the globe. But what exactly is Web 3.0 and how is it likely to change things for us in the future?
Before we dive into knowing about Web 3.0; it’s quite critical to peep into the past and discover a little about Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. Web 1.0 was the very first version of the internet that came into being back in the day, a preliminary version which consisted of grassroot level features like search engines which involved nil to very less interaction between the web and the users. As technology evolved, developers started focusing on facilitating more efficient, frequent interaction between these interfaces and users which led to the development of Web 2.0 also called Social 1.0: This version of the web revolved around the dawn of social media apps that we use today, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and so on. Moving on to the topic which has occupied the central sphere: Web 3.0 is a whole new world of technology where people sitting in different corners of the world would meet and crack business deals, make transactions, attend events through VRs, purchase land- all this in a virtual environment. Apart from that Web 3.0 would also lead to the emergence of Social 2.0 where social media would no longer be limited to only Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat but there would be distribution of users across niche social media platforms and the rise of the creator economy. It has been argued by that such a movement would lead to decentralization of money and power; On the other hand, some renowned personalities like Jack Dorsey have also asserted that it’s just another manifestation of centralization.
Among the presence of a wide array of speculations and opinions, only time can tell if Web 3.0 can really lead to decentralization of financial stakes and power or will it just be another technological revolution still operated by the people in power.