The Evolution of the Web from Web1 to Web3 From information explosion to value explosion

Web2: Information Explosion from 2005 to 2017

In 2005, beyond searching and transacting, people needed to connect, interact, collaborate, and express their opinions with reviews, comments, likes, blogs, and tweets. With the introduction of Cloud Computing combined with Mobile Computing (to a lesser extent), websites started to evolve to become web applications. Social networks like Friendster, Myspace and Facebook, and social media firms like Tweeter, Yelp, Instagram, Flickr, and Reddit, came to the seen. Web2 was born. However, such explosion of information came at a cost - we became addicted and exploited. Tech firms abused their power and hid behind Section 230 in order to escape any responsibility for the harm that their algorithms were causing. There was a detrimental shift from decentralization and open source in Web1 to centralization and control in Web2 which has fallen victim to Peter Principle. Despite all the benefits that the web brought to date, it lost its sole.

Web3: Value Explosion from 2018 to Present

In 2018, there was a recognition that the web needed to go back to its origin with decentralization and open source instead of centralization with proprietary systems. Developers started to create Distributed Applications (DApps) using Blockchain by expanding its applicability beyond cryptocurrency. Web3 was born.

For about 3 years, the industry struggled in trying to define Web3. However, the problems were ample clear, namely: privacy, security, data integrity, data redundancy, data losses, tracking, governance, democratization, monetization, tokenization, silos, etc.

For lack of a better definition, Web3 is attempting to regain the original “raison d’ être” of the web but this time the focus is on value creation generated by DApps with “Network Effect” in which each user added to the application/network increases the value for all other users.

Most current applications use Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) which is a five decade old, mature, and stable technology, while Blockchain is still in its infancy and likely to evolve to something different than what it is today. To be clear, every technology has its pros and cons, and Blockchain is no exception. Having said that, there is no denial that the web has been evolving to more equitable, valuable, fair, secure, safe, democratic, and organic network. And that is the promise of Web3…