Web 3.0

10/12/2021, 21:46 One Article to Understand The Past, Present, and Future of Web 3.0 | by Polkadot.
lkadot.ERI | Polkadot Network | Dec, 2021 | Me…
One Article to Understand The Past, Present,

and Future of Web 3.0
Polkadot.ERI Follow
Dec 7 · 13 min read
Polkadot Ecology Research Institute is a China-based non-profit organization funded by

the Polkadot Treasury to produce research and analysis on Polkadot and the broader Web3
ecosystem for the Chinese community. The following article is the first in a series to be
translated for sharing with the English-speaking community.
This article attempts to explain Web 3.0 in clear terms from a comprehensive
perspective for those unfamiliar with the concept. Readers already aware of Polkadot
might know that its goal is to become the infrastructure platform of Web 3.0. The close
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10/12/2021, 21:46 One Article to Understand The Past, Present, and Future of Web 3.0 | by Polkadot.ERI | Polkadot Network | Dec, 2021 | Me…
link between Web 3.0 and Polkadot is the key to the exciting future of the internet; a
fascinating prospect with details worth delving into extensively.
The origin and definition of Web 3.0

The generic term “web” has been widely used for 32 years, yet few know its definition
or origin. In 1989, English scientist Tim Berners-Lee shared his vision for a
“collaborative medium” for researchers to share and update scientific research and
information at CERN (European Institute for Particle Physics). Four years later he
created the World Wide Web in 1993 — kicking off a revolutionary internet era.
1. Web 1.0: Users are “consumers of content”

Millions of people joined the scientific researchers and soon benefited from the
interconnected computer system; surfing the ‘web’ for information and entertainment
skyrocketed. Service providers like AOL, Yahoo, and Google monetized advertising and
became the ultimate profiteers during this period which later became known as Web
1.0 (1991 to 2004). According to Graham Cormode and Balachander Krishnamurthy,
“content creators were few…with the vast majority of users simply acting as consumers
of content.”
2. Web 2.0: Everyone is a content creator

The term Web 1.0 did not exist until Web 2.0 came to fruition in order to provide
retroactive clarity in distinguishing the two periods. Web 2.0 was coined by Darcy
DiNucci and only became widely accepted after the promotion by Tim O’Reilly and
Dale Dougherty at the O’Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004. Web 2.0 allows any
web user to participate in content creation. This occurs when they interact on Facebook
with friends, post on blogs, and share videos and pictures on YouTube or Instagram.
This exciting trend in web users’ interactions has made the less adaptive internet
companies obsolete. This phenomenon is akin to users searching on social media like
YouTube and Twitter for specific topics instead of passively reading articles on AOL and
Yahoo.
Though Web 2.0 did not supersede Web 1.0 (nor are they binary divisions) — the latter
is still commonly used and characterized as “read-only” — while Web 2.0 offers
interactivity and remains mainstream. The materialization of Web 2.0 led to the
abundant imagination of Web 3.0.
3. The Web 3.0 projection
Artificial intelligence has matured and is now embedded in every user interaction on
web pages. Algorithms analyze and extrapolate the data generated by user interactions
to suggest additional articles or merchandise based on their preferences. Tim Berners-
Lee envisioned Semantic Web as the Web 3.0 where machines eventually process
information like a human brain. In short, messages would be understood contextually
and conceptually.
Thus Web 3.0 was fully projected: machines that understood all data (Semantic Web)
would solve issues with optimization through machine learning (Artificial Intelligence)
providing an ideal premise for a digital ecosystem where data can be shared among
devices (Internet of Things). However, the trajectory of Web 3.0 has headed in another
direction after the rise of blockchain.
4. Web 3.0 after blockchain

All speculations regarding Web 3.0 formed prior to blockchain were shattered by
overestimation of machine learning and the lack of actual implementation. Blockchain,
with its original technologies, would go on to reclaim the integrity and value of the
internet while simultaneously offering new perspectives for Web 3.0.
Meanwhile, a decisive incident took place in the U.S. during the summer of 2013.
Edward Snowden revealed highly classified information about the global surveillance
programs (PRISM) run by the U.S. National Security Agency to The Guardian and The
Washington Post. Snowden immediately flew to Hong Kong and sought asylum in
Russia. Shortly after his arrival, he disclosed more details about the surveillance
program(s) in the U.K..
The PRISM scandal exposed a stark reality in which both the U.S. and the U.K. were
secretly invading citizens’ privacy by unconstitutionally monitoring their
communication at a large scale. The vulnerability in protecting users’ privacy by strictly
relying on the government or businesses proved that the Cypherpunk movement (an
act of advocating cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies voluntarily by a
group of individuals) was visionary.
Dr. Gavin Wood, Polkadot founder and co-founder of Ethereum, recognized the
shortcomings of the current internet environment and introduced his own vision of
Web 3.0 while building Ethereum. Wood originally expressed his vision of Web 3.0 as
follows:
“Web 3.0 is an inclusive set of protocols to provide building blocks for application
makers. These building blocks take the place of traditional web technologies like
HTTP, AJAX and MySQL, but present a whole new way of creating applications. These
technologies give the user strong and verifiable guarantees about the information they
are receiving, what information they are giving away, what they are paying and what
they are receiving in return. By empowering users to act for themselves within low-
barrier markets, we can ensure censorship and monopolization have fewer places to
hide. Consider Web 3.0 to be an executable Magna Carta — the foundation of the
freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot.”
In summary, Wood’s notions targeted all the issues associated with the drawbacks of
Web 2.0 and exposed by the PRISM scandal — including centralization, data privacy,
and tech giants’ monopolization. He defined Web 3.0 as a series of scalable
technological frameworks that granted an unprecedented approach to building new
applications.These solutions secure a transparent network through data
decentralization, empowering individuals to regain control of their own digital
identity, assets, and data privacy. Hence, Wood also described Web 3.0 as “the post-
Snowden web.”
5. Reasons to pay attention to Web 3.0 after blockchain

As previously mentioned, the Semantic Web version of Web 3.0 describes a promising
future for the internet but does not fix the existing problems created by Web 2.0. Web
3.0 with blockchain technology (as suggested by Wood) would mitigate the drawbacks
in the current internet and be compatible with the Semantic Web at the same time.
Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 are predetermined, while Web 3.0 is still being defined. It serves
as a beacon guiding the future of the internet one stage at a time. In addition to
Ethereum and Polkadot, many projects with blockchain technology such as Filecoin
and Blockstack have sprung up after Wood conceptualized Web 3.0. The annual Web
3.0 events are also growing in popularity every year.
Why we need Web 3.0

The fantasy of cyberspace is cognitively necessary to acknowledge what is missing in
the modern digital world. The transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 manifested infinite
possibilities in cyberspace by giving users the option to be both content consumers and
content creators. This collective content exchange laid bare the imperfections within us
that galvanize our search for the “perfect internet.”
1. Inherent flaws of Web 2.0

The most significant accomplishment of Web 2.0 was moving the majority of tasks in
the real world online. This notion helped achieve a substantial transformation of the
internet that made our society more efficient and connected. Nevertheless, the social
structures of the global economy remain the same online; the unfair distribution of
wealth and power persists. Issues in centralization remain unresolved; instead, they
are getting worse as more data is generated day by day. Mismanagement of user data
by major tech companies allowed for the misuse of that data by illegal entities.
Therefore, data security and privacy protection have become problems that need to be
solved urgently.
2. What Web 3.0 can bring us

As Wood mentioned, the difference between Web 2.0 and 3.0 will appear nuanced
from the user’s perspective in its early stages. The web browsers may look the same but
would be called different names like “wallets” and “key stores.” These new web aspects
would serve as our online IDs with our asset information. They could conveniently
identify individuals for fund transfer, asset exchange, and payment over the internet
without involving other identity services. Trusted parties, insurance outfits, and
backup services will compete globally in this new open and transparent market. Users
are freed from price-gouging or rent-seeking and protected from data breaches.
Web 3.0 will redefine “the Digital Age.” We do not yet know how incredible the new
internet world will evolve to be. Still, we firmly believe that it will lead us one step
closer to an internet that features efficiency, fairness, integrity, and value. It also leads
us to ask questions like “What will be the subsequent developments for Web 3.0?” and
“What new form will Web 3.0 take?” These questions will require us to ruminate on a
much higher level.
The Current Web 3.0 and The Road Ahead

Blockchain inevitably becomes the center of focus when it comes to the development of
Web 3.0 since its priorities of decentralization, trustworthiness, and tamper-proofing
align with the goal of Web 3.0 — a new internet generation where everyone is in
control of their data, identity, and destiny. Besides blockchain, there is artificial
intelligence, decentralized data storage protocols, and highly secure cryptography, all
illuminating the path towards the Web 3.0 blueprint.
The first obstacle on this path to the blueprint are issues related to data storage and
transfer, which are the foundations of Web 3.0. These two practices are also the basic
framework for some blockchain applications. A second obstacle to consider is the

feasibility of embedding digital identity into these applications. At last, we would need
to present the web browser and user interfaces in ways that are familiar to the public.
These obstacles delineate the path to Web 3.0.
1. Zero/low trust interaction protocol (blockchain)

Blockchain technologies confirm the value of the product and integrity of all parties
online, a critical feature to actualize Web 3.0. But Web 3.0 lacks a credible and
decentralized interaction protocol that communicates the functions within. As a result,
numerous industry professionals are constructing the basic underlying protocol to
support Web 3.0 targeting to fill this void, and Polkadot is that solution built by Wood.
2. Decentralized Storage
We have mentioned the importance of data on various occasions. Many countries have
implemented laws on internet data privacy which has brought awareness to data
security. An attempt to secure data usage and its storage within the current internet
system without lawful regulation would be in vain. This realization led to several
decentralized data storage technologies, including IPFS (InterPlanetary File System). It

is still uncertain whether IPFS will be widely used, but at least we have realized the
possible data breach vulnerabilities with using centralized servers. Facebook’s major
data breach incidents further corroborate this potential outcome.
3. Decentralized communication and computing

Polkadot’s goal is to become the primary platform for data transferring and asset
exchange in Web 3.0. To accomplish this, Polkadot will need to develop a user-friendly
paradigm to serve as its foundation. This foundation will support the efficient
blockchain development tool (Substrate) and accommodate multiple economies by
facilitating all transactions in the ecosystem.
Only when such a decentralized framework is assembled can we further consider

implementing decentralized communication and computing. After all, the most
excellent idea is worth nothing without solid groundwork; this applies to projects like
Polkadot and Ethereum. In April 2014, Wood published the following: “The Web 3.0
projection published in the Ethereum community is to have peer-to-peer (P2P)
protocols shape the internet from the basis of the software to the final build of the
network — with decentralization and privacy protection as the main features.”
4. Decentralized applications
Data protection and data privacy are heavily discussed topics when it comes to
applications, especially the unauthorized data collection employed by some mobile
applications. These issues are caused by the dichotomy between the system and the
software, making decentralization applications (dapps) the solution for this inherent,
systemic flaw.
The second-quarter report shows more than 2400 dapps on Ethereum, the most
extensive dapp network at this moment. It is not comparable to the number of
applications on the current internet, but enough for us to see the trend of blockchain
technologies becoming mature. We are one day closer to the future where our network
is reliable, and its applications no longer allow unauthorized data collection and usage.
5. Decentralized identity
Data collection occurs when we sign up to use a new application on mobile devices in
Web 2.0. Companies can disclose users’ data to third parties voluntarily or
involuntarily via unintentional data leaks in a centralized internet network. Even
Facebook, one of the tech giants known for its robust data protection protocol, did not
avoid becoming a victim of multiple major data breaches. It is mandatory to secure

users’ digital identities and information when their rights are constantly in danger of
being violated.
Decentralized Identity (DID) is the solution to this problem in Web 3.0. DID is a set of
entirely decentralized identities that allow individuals or entities to fully own their
digital identities and the proprietary of related data. The simple definition of this is
that we have the absolute ownership of our digital identity. When users sign up for
applications using DID, they can use these applications and protect their data privacy
without any interference from centralized entities.
Two mainstream standards of DID are set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
and Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF), respectively. In addition to these two
standards, Software, ArcBlock, uPort, lifeID, Sovrin, Blockstack, and several other
companies all have their own DID definitions and protocols.
6. User interface optimization

Another stellar project in Web 3.0, Blockstack, is a blockchain browser application that
integrates decentralized data, decentralized applications, and user data. The
decentralized internet is where users own various identities, their related data streams,
and their proprietary data. Users can store data on their own devices or in the cloud,
claiming independence from third-party entities. Meanwhile, developers can build
locally run decentralized applications using users’ API (Application programming
interface). This allows users to visit their information without data storage concerns.
Users retrieve their data ownership back by using this technology from Blockstack.
This blockchain application facilitates user data security and cannot be breached
without permission. Users then gain the freedom to transfer their proprietary data in
any form they prefer without platform restrictions.
Many similar platforms and applications are burgeoning as well. This includes the
plug-in wallet Metamask on Ethereum, permitting users to directly use their wallets on
PC browsers, even visiting dapps. For context. There were more than 1 million active
users on Metamask in the past year. Meanwhile, popular games through DAOs
(decentralized autonomous organizations) and Web 3.0 act as further advocates for
user gain.
The Future Roadmap
The features of blockchain enable digitalization in all aspects of everyday life via its
unique technologies. This transition is inevitable and makes us wonder what the future
iterations of the digital world will look like. Imagine when real life and the digital
world are equally important to us in the future — a checkpoint will be needed to verify
all users when they sign up to enter that digital domain.
Our interaction in the future digital world will not be limited to two dimensional
approaches like QR codes, text, sounds or videos. Users will be able to explore the 3-
dimensional digital world in the form of an avatar. These same users will be able to log
into applications, participate in social activities anonymously online, and attend
gatherings with hidden identities (unless they introduce themselves). Users will trade
as if they are in real life without identifying themselves or disclosing their asset
information.
Anonymity will no longer be a hotbed of crime — instead it will protect user privacy.
For example, the system could evaluate all activities that would potentially affect the
user’s credit score when malicious activity is spotted since the identity would be paired
with a credit system. Anyone with a low credit score would be banned from using the
application. Users could repair credit scores by paying penalties and other remedial
measures, but bad credit records could not be tampered with and could be reviewed at
any time. Anonymous identities will correspond to digital identities and real life
identities in a decentralized KYC (Know Your Customer — a standard to the fight
against the laundering of illicit money flowing) to prevent any possible ill will.
Besides having virtual identities in the digital world, it is possible to have our digital
assets, such as “users’ own tools” or real estate in games. The tenure and value of the
house is verified by decentralized storage and decentralized computing. Blockchain
technology ensures these digital assets are decentralized. Algorithms in alliance with
decentralized governance safeguard purchasers’ proprietary rights to the property.
Epilogue
The internet has been through all the vicissitudes of the past 30 years. Mostly it has
been through rapid growth which in turn provided the perfect stage for tech giants like
Google, Amazon, Facebook, Tencent, and Alibaba to rise. Whether or not the internet
can keep this momentum up before the public loses trust in cybersecurity online
remains to be seen for now.
The legendary Silicon Valley figure Tim O’Reilly (who led the open-source movement
and Web 2.0) mentioned in his book that, “simple and decentralized systems make it
easier to breed new possibilities when compared to complex and centralized systems
because they can evolve faster. Within the framework of simple rules, each
decentralized component can find its own fitness function. Those underlying protocols
that perform better will upgrade while those that perform poorly will be eliminated.”
The prospect of this new internet will be an adventurous journey full of thrilling
events. The future internet will completely change either with blockchain, artificial
intelligence, or other unknown technologies while also bringing more value to Web
3.0. We do not know if the upcoming change will be a cognitive awakening or simply
an inexorable progression of the current internet — but a new radical movement is
beginning to surge beneath the tranquil water.
About Us
Polkadot Ecology Research Institute focuses on the research and analysis of Polkadot’s
ecological development which was founded in 2020. While delivering professional and in-
depth content to users, we’ll keep exploring the value of Polkadot’s ecology.
Follow us on Twitter: @Polkadot_ERI
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10/12/2021, 21:46 One Article to Understand The Past, Present, and Future of Web 3.0 | by Polkadot.

lkadot.ERI | Polkadot Network | Dec, 2021 | Me…

One Article to Understand The Past, Present,

Polkadot Ecology Research Institute is a China-based non-profit organization funded by

The origin and definition of Web 3.0

1. Web 1.0: Users are “consumers of content”

2. Web 2.0: Everyone is a content creator

3. The Web 3.0 projection

4. Web 3.0 after blockchain

5. Reasons to pay attention to Web 3.0 after blockchain

Why we need Web 3.0

1. Inherent flaws of Web 2.0

2. What Web 3.0 can bring us

The Current Web 3.0 and The Road Ahead

framework for some blockchain applications. A second obstacle to consider is the

1. Zero/low trust interaction protocol (blockchain)

decentralized data storage technologies, including IPFS (InterPlanetary File System). It

3. Decentralized communication and computing

Only when such a decentralized framework is assembled can we further consider

avoid becoming a victim of multiple major data breaches. It is mandatory to secure

6. User interface optimization

The Future Roadmap

Follow us on Twitter: @Polkadot_ERI

Web3 Polkadot Cryptocurrency Blockchain Metaverse

About Write Help Legal

Get the Medium app

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