Since the onset of the 1990’s, the internet has become a major part of our lives. Our reliance on the internet has increased exponentially over the years to the point that today almost every aspect of our lives is related to the internet somehow. During this period, the web has also undergone the process of evolution. The internet has been upgrading itself again and again. Just as any new technology becomes old in a matter of just a few years, the internet has to incorporate new technologies and features.
This evolution started with the Web 1.0 – it was the commencement of the internet, i.e. the late 80’s. It consisted of just read-only pages or published content . These webpages were created by a very few people. But the beauty of it was that anyone on the globe who had access to the internet could access the content seamlessly. But the disadvantage was that the reader could not interact with the webpage. There were no search engines and the world wide web was not very common.
The second phase was Web 2.0 – By 2000, the second stage of the internet commenced. This greatly improved the shortcomings of the previous generation. The user could interact and participate with the content available on the internet. The users could create their own digital footprint and also create their digital identities. This kickstarted the commerce aspect of the internet. Trading and commerce became a part of the Web 2.0. This also gave rise to social media. The initial players were Myspace, Orkut etc. Facebook , Twitter, Youtube were the later players and these generated content revolution. Anyone could create and publish the content from anywhere on the planet without worrying about the reach because it would instantly be available to everyone.
The latest iteration of the internet was the Web 3.0 – this is also called the decentralized web. This represents the latest generation of internet applications. This is not a new concept. The aim of is to connect data in a decentralized way rather than the data being stored in centralized repositories. The networks are built from an open source software and executed in full view of the world. The network itself allows the participants to interact publicly or privately without the risk of being watched upon by third party agencies like the government or non-governmental agencies like media powerhouses. There is no per se permission required from any governing body. This creates a certain amount of trust between two parties who want to interact on the internet. Web 3.0 enables an environment which is trusted by the masses and rapidly gaining popularity in the mainstream digital world.
The need to create a decentralized network stemmed out of the events which certainly created a distrust in the users and caused catastrophic consequences. Various claims such as Russian manipulation of the US Presidential elections, government crackdown on people practicing free speech made the internet a place which needed certain corrections. This will be a new start for the new phase of the internet.
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