How has what we've simply known as the Web, the World Wide Web, come to have different "versions" and why is the 3rd one gaining so much popularity?

Before we go into the different iterations of the Web, I'll attempt to explain what the Web is.

The Web 🌐

Think of the Web as a connection (done through hyperlinks) of electronic documents (webpages) that we access via the internet, usually through a web browser.

The terms Web 1, 2 and 3 are terms used by people to describe the progression the Web has made since it was first founded in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee

Web 1.0

The First. ("Read-Only" Web)

This is the first iteration of the web. During this period, the web was primarily used to present information to users.

With Web1, users could only read static HTML pages served from a static file system as opposed to the separate database system we have today.

As a user, you mostly used the web to consume the content of simple static web pages. Brands and content creators used the web as a one-way medium to pass on their message.

The Web1 era is vaguely described as a period between 1990 and the early 2000s

An example of a Web 1 page: cameronsworld

Web 2.0

The Present. ("Social" Web)

You are currently reading this article from a Web 2.0 platform. 😁

With Web 2.0, users can effect changes to the website. The websites are dynamic and interactive, and there's relatively seamless communication between users and content creators.

Users can make their opinions known to the publisher, or other users by: Writing directly through comments 💬, blogging, liking content 👍, and giving reviews ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This improvement in the underlying technologies of the web birthed the social media titans. Meta (formerly Facebook), Google, Amazon and other "tech" giants were built, and they became pivotal to the way Web 2.0 looks today.

These companies drove innovation across the web as they were onboarding millions of users at an unprecedented rate. Hardware companies were also on the move, and companies like Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry created a variety of devices to deliver Web 2 seamlessly to most users.

Examples of Web 2.0 sites are:

• Social media websites, like Facebook
• Video content sharing platforms like YouTube

Before we jump to Web3, it is worth noting that Web2 files and data are stored in a central database. This leads to the problem of centralization. Centralization invariably means that content creators will have to trust a hosting or storage service provider (usually a cloud-based service like AWS or GCP) to manage their servers and database systems.

Web 3.0

The Future? ("Decentralized" Web)

So why Web3?

Remember the problem of centralization? the consequence of having your entire system managed by one central entity can be severe. This entity has the authority and power to add, alter, and delete whatever is hosted with them. Cybercriminals often target these data centres, as they contain a lot of valuable data.

Also, the Web2 giants have a ton of information about their users. They collect a lot of information on our patterns, searches, likes, etc. Many people are raising concerns about the ethics of this, and are worried that their deepest, most personal information may fall into the wrong hands.

Web2 has provided a lot of users with a voice. With many Web2 giants now censoring posts that violate their policies, many people are becoming disgruntled and are looking for alternatives to Web2 strongholds.

Web 3 solves this?

Web 3 aims to solve this by using a decentralized system as opposed to the Web2 centralized system. Decentralization ensures that no central entity stores and manipulates user data.

With this system, data is distributed to thousands of computers (nodes) that communicate with each other (peer-to-peer). This forms a distributed network of nodes.

With this, you have a reliable decentralized system with no single point of failure because if one peer fails, other peers are available to provide resilience.

Conclusion

Web3 aims to decentralize the web. To ensure that large corporations don't totally control our data, to secure our data, and to provide an all-around reliable web for all.

Special mention to Blockgames, Nestcoin and the Zuri team for the platform to learn how to build stuff on the Blockchain.