There is no official definition of Web 3. There are only explanations on what is expected to come in Web 3. Technology evolves and the internet has come a long way from its origins, moving from Web 1, to Web 2 and now transitioning into its new phase.
Before you understand Web 3 and what is to come from it. It is essential you understand what came before and what is leading us into the new age of the internet.
The Static Web: What Is Web 1? (1989-2005)
Web 1 is the first generation of the World Wide Web, known as the ‘static web’. Web 1 was a content delivery system. Businesses were able to broadcast information for users to search and read about. Utilizing a static landing page, this was the entirety of Web 1.
The Social Media Age: What Is Web 2? (2005 – Present)
Web 2 a term first introduced in 1999, describes the pivoting of the internet to a system based around user experience and engagement.[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0#top
Web 2 wasn’t a technical upgrade to the existing Web, rather it was a breakthrough in technologies like; Javascript and HTML5.
Startups were now able to build interactive platforms like Wikipedia, Facebook, and YouTube. This led the way for social networks and user-generated content creation to flourish, as users could retrieve and classify information, creating an economy of flowing information that is received and evaluated upon by the users through forms of feedback.
The Semantic Web: What Is Web 3? (Upcoming)
Web 3, also known as the Semantic Web, is the present evolution from a social web into a database, of sorts.
Web 3 is an idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web based on blockchain technology. Incorporating concepts including decentralization and token-based economics.[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web3
Web 3 is distinct from computer scientist and inventor of the World Wide Web,Tim Berners-Lee’s 1999 concept for a semantic web. Berners-Lee, defines the Semantic Web as enabling computers to analyze loads of data from the Web, including content, transactions, and links between persons.
Although in relation to cryptocurrencies and blockchain, the term “Web 3” was coined by Polkadot founder and Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood in 2014, referring to a “decentralized online ecosystem based on blockchain.”
In a nutshell, it aims to use artificial intelligence interacting with itself to create a human-like intelligence. Web 3 puts control back in the hands of users. As data will not be owned by large corporations, rather it is shared by those who wish to share.
The goal of the Semantic Web is to organize the world’s information better than any search engine could with existing engines. It will do this by automatically interfacing with systems and people, involving both humans and machines in decision-making processes and content creation.
What Is The Semantic Web? Semantic Web vs Traditional Web
Moving from Web 2 to Web 3 requires a near-human-like artificial intelligence as stated above. Semantics can be defined as the study of meaning or truth between languages.
Applying Semantics to the World Wide Web would enable artificial intelligence to decode emotions and meanings behind words through analyzing data, creating a heightened user experience. An example of Semantics is comparing emojis to words with the same meaning. Love and <3 have the same Semantics, although a different syntax.
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