What is Web3? (Explained) | Cryptopedia

Imagine a bunch of dots floating in space. See how static and isolated they are. This is what Web 1.0 looked like. Let's take those dots and put them inside a few large bubbles. They're connected now, but they're also stuck inside the bubbles. The bubbles own them. This is what Web 2.0 currently looks like. Now, what if we pop those bubbles but still kept all the dots connected so they could go wherever they want on their own? This is the vision for Web3. And this isn't the last you've heard about bubbles. So You've heard of Web3, but you still might not know what exactly it is or how it works. Don't worry, you're not alone. Web3 refers to the third generation of Internet services, although it's still in its infancy. When the vision comes to life, it's going to be a game changing opportunity to make a better version of the Internet and wrestle it away from the behemoths who control it today. I'm Jackson Dumont, director of video production at Cointelegraph, and in this video we're going to shed some light on Web three, how it will be different from Web one and two and the role that blockchain and crypto will play in it. But before we dig into the details, don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for advanced but easy to understand crypto content. We are the leading channel for crypto, news coverage and education. Alright, let's get this started. To explain Web3, we first need to understand Web1 and 2. What is this, honey? Web1 encompasses the earliest stage of the Internet. From 1991 to 2003. Tech experts refer to Web1 as the read only web. That's because there really wasn't much to do. Besides, well, read websites were built with static HTML pages. Web pages were joined together by hyperlinks. There were none of the forms, controls or visual polish that we see today. People logged on to mostly to read or get updates on different things. They were consumers of content. A great example of this is a website. Many Westerners are familiar with Craigslist. I mean, just look at it. By modern standards this is already a historical relic, but it's still very active. So let's take a closer look. It began as an email list for a group of friends in 1995 and eventually grew into a website in 1996. The design is simple text on a webpage, almost every piece of text is a hyperlink leading you to another webpage. Within the Craigslist domain, there are no profile Pictures, no moving elements, no external links, and no messaging services. You can't even interact with the post directly. If you want to reply to someone, you have to hit the button. Then email the automatically generated address on your own. This is why we call it static. But even though it's archaic, it's still fascinating. Just check out this board called Missed Connections. It's a place where people search for other people they might have seen on the street, or at the train station, or at a stoplight. Not being able to view any replies to the post creates this kind of eerie experience. It's like watching people shout their loneliness into the void and there you are, nothing but a witness. It's kind of poetic, but I think this captures the essence of what Web 1.0 was like. Now let's move on to Web 2, the second generation of Internet services. Compare a website like Twitter or Amazon to Craigslist and and it's easy to see the transformation that's taken place. At least on the surface. The days of hyperlinks and static text are far gone. Instead we have images, videos, applications, games pop up, Windows animations, and most importantly, advertising. But we all know that you're here right now to understand web3. We need to talk about what's going on under the surface, how the modern Internet is actually structured and why it's structured like that. This is where the big changes will take place. I've got an analogy for you that should help. Remember that browser game agar IO that consumed our lives 10 years ago? You don't. Alright, let me quickly tell you about it. In the game, you start as a bubble. Your goal is to eat other bubbles until you become the largest bubble in the room. This is essentially how Web 2.0 has evolved. Modern websites like search engines, marketplaces and social medias gather data and bring it into their bubbles. This process causes their bubbles to grow and become more powerful. Think of how you can find almost anything through Google search. Or how you can order almost any product off of Amazon. We can call this the centralization of the Internet. But the big Internet bubbles aren't only eating up data, they're also eating up each other. In Agar IO, there is a mechanic that lets you split your bubble in half so you can move more quickly and eat up more bubbles. Even though you now have two bubbles, they're both owned by you. Think About Google and YouTube, two different platforms, both aggregating data and owned by the same parent company. When you realize multiple Internet bubbles are actually part of the same conglomerate of bubbles. You start to understand just how centralized Web 2.0 really is. The problem is, once you get eaten by one of those larger bubbles, you don't have control over your own bubble anymore. Your data can be used without your consent. In web 1.0, Internet users were consumers. But in web 2.0, we are products. Big tech companies like Facebook and Google gather data about us and sell it to advertisers for profit. The problem is we don't have a good way to limit the data we are unknowingly sharing on the Internet. This is what Web3 is trying to solve. Web3 can easily be understood as the read, write, own phase of the Internet. It aims to eliminate the exchange of personal data for services and break down the corporate monopolization of the Internet. Let's look at the first part of that. Data is the main currency of web 2.0. How do we change that? Well, we would need to build a separate network that relies on a different medium of exchange, like a coin. You might see where I'm going with this. Cryptocurrency networks like Ethereum do just that. It has its own programming language for building applications. Users access the services of applications by paying a fee in eth, the native coin on the network. Each user keeps their eth in a wallet. The wallet doesn't share any personal information about the user. Nothing is known except the public address of the wallet, which is a long string of random numbers and letters. By the way, did you know that the term Web3 was actually coined by the guy who coded Ethereum? You can check out his story here. Ok, so we're replacing data with magic Internet money. How does this solve anything? Well, because Web3 Networks will be decentralized and open. Decentralization means that networks can be upheld by anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. It doesn't require a centralized warehouse full of servers. It is maintained by the community. This means no single entity controls the network and nothing can be done like selling your data without the consent of the community. Web3 will also be open, which means it's trustless, permissionless and largely built on open source software. Trustless and permissionless mean that interactions can take place between two parties without the need for intermediary. This is done with smart contracts. If you don't know what a smart contract is, we've got you covered. It's exactly like sending Bitcoin from one person to another. The whole process happens on the blockchain and there is no way that anyone can interfere with it or stop it. Now let's get to the other goal of Web3, which is deconstructing the tech conglomerates that control Web2. Breaking up these giant companies can only be done through legislation and legal action. However, Web3 provides an alternative to the typical company. Everyone knows the classic corporate pyramid with CEOs and shareholders sitting at the top. But what if organizations were structured more like a flat circle where everyone was equal? Users could participate in the governance and operation of the organizations themselves, turning them into participants and shareholders, not just consumers of products. The structure of the organization will be governed by smart contracts so that everyone has to play by the same rules. This is the premise for decentralized autonomous organizations or DAOs. If you're not sure what that is, check out our video on it here. Alright, now we are starting to get an idea of what Web3 could look like. Decentralized applications built on decentralized networks, all run by daos. The final missing piece is, well, you. How will you navigate Web3 while accruing all of these different currencies, NFTs and digital assets? It's simple. You'll store them on encrypted digital wallets, just like a wallet in the real world. Digital wallets will safely hold onto your currencies and data. These digital wallets will essentially serve as your identity on Web3, and they will be interoperable across many different networks. You'll be able to use them to access various decentralized applications that need to interact with your currencies and property. Hopefully you'll even be able to regulate how much information you share using your wallet, rather than clicking through cookie pop ups on every webpage. So this all sounds good, right? A new era of the Internet, founded on privacy and governed by the global community. But there are some challenges. Scalability, transactions and decisions are slower on Web3 because they're decentralized. Web3 networks simply can't handle billions of users right now, and time isn't always a luxury organizations can afford. Accessibility interacting with many Web3 protocols and applications is difficult because it requires understanding and experience. The fact that we're here right now proves this point. And number three, it's still mostly a vision. We know the core tenets of Web3, but we don't know exactly what the final product will look like. There are unpredictable factors like government regulation that will inevitably shape the course of the future, but for now, we at least know the trajectory. So all in all, it's safe to say that Web3 is on its way to becoming the next evolution of the Internet. An Internet where personal data is no longer the main currency. An Internet no longer ruled by tech giants. An Internet for you. If you enjoyed the video, be sure to like it. 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