Web3 has come up as a bit of a buzzword in recent years. It is thrown around often in the crypto community, but those outside of that community may have no idea what web3 really means. I hope to give you a quick overview of the web, and how we are transitioning into the web3 era.

I also include links throughout to dive deeper into topics and to check out more thought leaders in the space.✌️

Coined by Ethereum co-founder and Polkadot founder Dr. Gavin Wood, web3 is a trustless version of the internet built on blockchains, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs.

Just as the Bitcoin whitepaper came out following the 2008 banking crisis, Wood began talking about a decentralized web, post-Snowden revelations, because organizations and governments were revealed to not always have the people's best interests.

Links to Wood’s original blog post and later a less-techy version are both a blueprint and inspiration for understanding the motivation and vision for building the new era of the web.

A phrase that I often see recycled in crypto Twitter (and I cannot find the first time it was used to cite) but sums up the iterations of the web perfectly:

Web1 - read

Web2 - read, write

Web3 - read, write, own

Web1 is the read-only web, that is made up of static HTML websites that provide little interaction to the user. The inventor of the World Wide Web (WWW), Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented an open protocol while working at CERN in 1989 to allow information sharing anywhere on the planet.

The initial intention of the WWW was to be a research tool for the scientific community to collaborate and publish. This read-only version of the web was mainly used by researchers and companies and did not have the usability for user-generated content.

Berners-Lee envisioned the ultimate destiny of the WWW as a decentralized protocol in his 1999 book, but this turned out not to be realistic, as an oligopoly of big tech companies controls most of the interactions done on the web today.

His recent projects (Solid, Inrupt), which use linked-data technology try to achieve similar goals as blockchains, but in a different way.

(I’d like to dive deeper into his linked-data solutions compared to blockchain solutions in a later post🤓)

Web2 emerged with the advent of social media platforms in the early 2000s. This is the current system we experience today with community-based platforms to share and engage in dynamic content.

Even though users have the opportunity to connect and generate content through social media, an evident power dynamic emerged as users unknowingly entrust their information with large organizations. In the wake of government oversteps, post-Snowden, and emerging big-tech economic models of surveillance capitalism, many forward-thinking developers saw the opportunity to build a more trusting model for interacting online.

https://twitter.com/jackbutcher/status/1428367133684101133?s=20&t=QcFsTdFL8rk_VuMkdxwfqg

As mentioned earlier, web3 is a different model to interact online in a decentralized and trustless environment. Instead of putting trust in private companies and other third parties, you own all of your information, and interactions are done in a true peer-to-peer manner.

Web3 allows users to no longer rely on centralized companies to handle information in their best interests. This creates a permissionless network that allows participation from all and excludes none.

https://twitter.com/visualizevalue/status/1574016486376603650?s=20&t=y8rKLtHPaVlBwcPqDIWzSQ

An important part that makes the web3 experience unique is token ownership. Non-Fungible-Tokens (NFTs) are game changers for digital ownership of assets. Non-fungible means that the object is non-interchangeable for other items due to its unique properties built into the code.

Without going too much into the technical details (saving this for a later post😎), NFTs are minted through executed code in smart contracts that assign ownership of the NFT by recording the information onto the public blockchain.

At a surface level, this allows content creators to sell their work on a global market without needing third-party intermediaries. Since all transactions are public on the blockchain, proof-of-ownership can be verified, and creators can retain ownership rights and claim resale royalties.

Although we have not quite unlocked the power of NFTs yet, the underlying proof-of-ownership concept creates unique opportunities for assets, including digital art, collectibles, music, tickets to real-world events, legal documents, and many more.

https://twitter.com/visualizevalue/status/1571506567609999360?s=20&t=y8rKLtHPaVlBwcPqDIWzSQ

I hope this short post provided you with a baseline knowledge of the three eras of the web. Web3 is still in its infancy and will continue to grow in capabilities.

It looks like some of the early iterations of web3 tech will be integrated between web2 platforms using web3 tech. Some examples include Reddit’s avatar NFTs and sharing digital collectibles as NFTs on Instagram.

Web2 🤝Web3

These integrations do not fulfill the crypto hardliner vision for web3, but these integrations are bringing exposure to the benefits of Web3 technology. Either way, it is an exciting time to be a part of web3, and we will see what the future holds. 🚀

Feel free to drop me some feedback and recommendations on Twitter (@alexgfisher124)

And check out my street photography on Instagram (@alexfishermedia_)

Web3 has come up as a bit of a buzzword in recent years. It is thrown around often in the crypto community, but those outside of that community may have no idea what web3 really means. I hope to give you a quick overview of the web, and how we are transitioning into the web3 era.

I also include links throughout to dive deeper into topics and to check out more thought leaders in the space.✌️

Coined by Ethereum co-founder and Polkadot founder Dr. Gavin Wood, web3 is a trustless version of the internet built on blockchains, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs.

Just as the Bitcoin whitepaper came out following the 2008 banking crisis, Wood began talking about a decentralized web, post-Snowden revelations, because organizations and governments were revealed to not always have the people's best interests.

Links to Wood’s original blog post and later a less-techy version are both a blueprint and inspiration for understanding the motivation and vision for building the new era of the web.

A phrase that I often see recycled in crypto Twitter (and I cannot find the first time it was used to cite) but sums up the iterations of the web perfectly:

Web1 - read

Web2 - read, write

Web3 - read, write, own

Web1 is the read-only web, that is made up of static HTML websites that provide little interaction to the user. The inventor of the World Wide Web (WWW), Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented an open protocol while working at CERN in 1989 to allow information sharing anywhere on the planet.

The initial intention of the WWW was to be a research tool for the scientific community to collaborate and publish. This read-only version of the web was mainly used by researchers and companies and did not have the usability for user-generated content.

Berners-Lee envisioned the ultimate destiny of the WWW as a decentralized protocol in his 1999 book, but this turned out not to be realistic, as an oligopoly of big tech companies controls most of the interactions done on the web today.

His recent projects (Solid, Inrupt), which use linked-data technology try to achieve similar goals as blockchains, but in a different way.

(I’d like to dive deeper into his linked-data solutions compared to blockchain solutions in a later post🤓)

Web2 emerged with the advent of social media platforms in the early 2000s. This is the current system we experience today with community-based platforms to share and engage in dynamic content.

Even though users have the opportunity to connect and generate content through social media, an evident power dynamic emerged as users unknowingly entrust their information with large organizations. In the wake of government oversteps, post-Snowden, and emerging big-tech economic models of surveillance capitalism, many forward-thinking developers saw the opportunity to build a more trusting model for interacting online.

https://twitter.com/jackbutcher/status/1428367133684101133?s=20&t=QcFsTdFL8rk_VuMkdxwfqg

As mentioned earlier, web3 is a different model to interact online in a decentralized and trustless environment. Instead of putting trust in private companies and other third parties, you own all of your information, and interactions are done in a true peer-to-peer manner.

Web3 allows users to no longer rely on centralized companies to handle information in their best interests. This creates a permissionless network that allows participation from all and excludes none.

https://twitter.com/visualizevalue/status/1574016486376603650?s=20&t=y8rKLtHPaVlBwcPqDIWzSQ

An important part that makes the web3 experience unique is token ownership. Non-Fungible-Tokens (NFTs) are game changers for digital ownership of assets. Non-fungible means that the object is non-interchangeable for other items due to its unique properties built into the code.

Without going too much into the technical details (saving this for a later post😎), NFTs are minted through executed code in smart contracts that assign ownership of the NFT by recording the information onto the public blockchain.

At a surface level, this allows content creators to sell their work on a global market without needing third-party intermediaries. Since all transactions are public on the blockchain, proof-of-ownership can be verified, and creators can retain ownership rights and claim resale royalties.

Although we have not quite unlocked the power of NFTs yet, the underlying proof-of-ownership concept creates unique opportunities for assets, including digital art, collectibles, music, tickets to real-world events, legal documents, and many more.

https://twitter.com/visualizevalue/status/1571506567609999360?s=20&t=y8rKLtHPaVlBwcPqDIWzSQ

I hope this short post provided you with a baseline knowledge of the three eras of the web. Web3 is still in its infancy and will continue to grow in capabilities.

It looks like some of the early iterations of web3 tech will be integrated between web2 platforms using web3 tech. Some examples include Reddit’s avatar NFTs and sharing digital collectibles as NFTs on Instagram.

Web2 🤝Web3

These integrations do not fulfill the crypto hardliner vision for web3, but these integrations are bringing exposure to the benefits of Web3 technology. Either way, it is an exciting time to be a part of web3, and we will see what the future holds. 🚀

Feel free to drop me some feedback and recommendations on Twitter (@alexgfisher124)

And check out my street photography on Instagram (@alexfishermedia_)