What is Web3 and how does it redefine the online world?
Decentralization is impacting every corner of the internet and holds a big potential if done right.
For the past few years, blockchain and Web3 have redefined the way people, businesses and organizations exchange data and value. The developments of the “old” internet upgrading into a better, more influential version have influenced all spheres of modern life: the personal, societal, and business circles.
New technologies in general invite at least two approaches, depending on the player — vast get-rich-quick opportunities and meaningful development introducing improvements to real-life struggles. In the case of Web3, the potential of the latter is enormous.
Unfortunately, for most companies, bridging their business processes to blockchain-based infrastructure seems a difficult, even unnecessary step. It is challenging enough for them to understand current practices of cloud-based management, let alone dive into something new and unknown. If only they could recognize the benefits of Web3 from the get-go.
The past, the present, and the decentralized future
Web3 is built on the idea of reframing a consumer-based society where personal and company data are monetized and controlled by a few. It introduces an ownership-based approach, where your data and assets are not managed or owned by a third party.
If we want to talk about Web3 as the future of the internet, there are things to know about the history and the present.
It all started in 1990 with Web1, also known as the Read-Only internet, which consisted of only a few content creators. The content consumers could mostly just navigate to individual static webpages, such as Altavista or Yahoo, powered by open protocols. You could look up information online but could not leave any visible imprints yourself.
With Web2, the era of centralization came. It’s the internet phase we are living in right now. Known as the Read and Write internet or Participative Social Web, communication and commerce take place mostly on centralized platforms owned by big tech companies like Facebook and Google. In exchange for providing a ready-to-use platform for millions of content creators, their personal data is managed and monetized as collateral. From this point of view, publishing on your own blog suddenly feels quite expensive, doesn’t it?
Trustless internet. What?
With the power these few big tech companies have over the majority of the internet, the users have started to question their policies and break the trust invested in them. The monetization of unconditional trust in big tech became one of the deal-breakers for Web2 users, so Web3 sprouted to solve this dilemma.
The concept of Web3 is built around decentralization — it’s an online ecosystem based on blockchain technology. It’s a Read, Write and Own-type of web because, in contrast to Web2, it’s:
- Open: Developers build open-source software in full view of the public, corporations don’t own and control their platforms and linked data.
- Permissionless: Equal access is granted to all participants — no exclusions, no “gatekeepers”.
- Trustless: Participants interact freely, either publicly or privately — no strings attached to trusted third parties to facilitate the process.
Massive potential for Web3 builders
The future we see from this moment in time is a future that allows the sharing of more data with higher privacy and stronger security — minimizing the data breaches and expensive middlemen while maximizing user ownership and reliable traceability.
But it’s not only about the data. It’s about the main concepts of Web3 and how they will continue to improve the relationships we engage in. Business and content creation included.
Web3 is a relatively young and evolving ecosystem, no doubt. However, it’s only the beginning of creating a better web through its architecture. It’s a part of the core mission of Web3 projects, Authtrail included, to support and improve its infrastructure, upgrade the basis and give Web3 builders the much-needed tools, the future of digitized relationships will live up to its potential.
Originally published at https://authtrail.com.
About Authtrail
The Authtrail platform serves as a unified gateway to the Web3 services provided by linked Polkadot parachains. Following the multi-chain vision, Authtrail powers the transition of developers to Web3, simplifying its adoption in the real economy, and expanding its versatility as the ecosystem grows. With Authtrail, Web3 services are within reach for every developer, regardless of their background and experience with the blockchain technology.