Web 3.0 – The two versions of the web
The two versions of the web typically refer to Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.
Web 1.0:
Static Content: Early version of the internet where web pages were primarily static and non-interactive.
Read-Only: Users could only view information without the ability to interact or contribute.
Limited Interactivity: Websites were basic, consisting mostly of text and images, with limited multimedia elements.
Personal Websites: Often consisted of personal web pages and directories.
HTML-Based: Built using simple HTML with basic layout and design elements.
Web 2.0:
Dynamic Content: The modern version of the web, characterised by interactive and dynamic web pages.
Read-Write: Users can interact with websites, create and share content, and engage with others.
Enhanced Interactivity: Rich media, social networking, user-generated content, and advanced web applications.
Web3 is widely regarded as the next evolution of the internet, following Web1 and Web2, but whether it is truly the “latest” depends on perspective.
Web1, the first phase of the internet, was primarily static and read-only. Users could access information, but had little ability to interact with it.
Web2 brought interactivity, social media, user-generated content, and cloud-based services, allowing platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to dominate the online space.
While Web2 enabled unprecedented connectivity and collaboration, it also centralised control in the hands of a few major corporations, leading to concerns about data privacy, security, and monopolistic practices.
Web3 aims to address these limitations by introducing decentralisation, blockchain technology, and user ownership.
In a Web3 environment, individuals can own digital assets, identities, and data, interact via decentralised applications (dApps), and participate in ecosystems without relying on a single centralised authority.
Features like smart contracts automate transactions securely, while cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) create new models of value and exchange online.
The promise of Web3 is an internet where users, rather than corporations, have greater control and transparency in their online interactions.
However, calling Web3 the “latest” comes with some caveats. While the ideas behind Web3 are innovative, the technology is still evolving.
Many decentralised applications are experimental, adoption remains limited, and scalability issues continue to challenge the infrastructure.
Additionally, regulatory and legal frameworks for blockchain and cryptocurrencies are still being developed, meaning that Web3 is far from fully mainstream.
Despite these challenges, Web3 represents a significant shift in how the internet could function in the future.
Its focus on decentralisation, user ownership, and transparent digital interactions positions it as a logical next step after Web2.
Even if it is not yet fully mature or universally adopted, Web3 is shaping conversations about the future of online interaction, the digital economy, and personal data rights.
In conclusion, Web3 is the latest conceptual evolution of the internet, building on past developments and addressing key limitations of Web2.
While it is not yet fully mainstream, its technologies and philosophies are driving innovation and may redefine how we interact, transact, and manage our digital identities in the coming years.
Social Media
Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube exemplify Web 2.0, enabling collaboration and communication.
Advanced Technologies
Utilizes AJAX, JavaScript, and other advanced technologies to create responsive and engaging user experiences.
Web 2.0 has significantly transformed the internet into a more collaborative and participatory platform, enabling users to contribute and interact in ways that were not possible with Web 1.0.
Most of us don’t think of the recent internet as a piece of software that has a version history like your favourite web browser operating system.
But there have been enough big changes that developed more or less organically to lead some folks to claim where on the second, possibly even third version of the recent internet.
But how did we get here? Back in the early days of the web, say up until the early 2000s, you obviously had people that created content, otherwise the web would have just been empty.
Spinning GIFs Era
Most internet users were relatively passive and that they were generally looking at things that other folks made, think GEO Cities pages with spinning gifts and topical directories with bare links.
When average users were making contributions they were relatively small, think pre-social media era message boards, or online guest books, but although those cute little gifts were considered fancy by many at the time web pages themselves were actually quite simple.
For the most part, lots of pages didn’t support CSS, Dynamic HTML, or other features that made your browsing experience more interactive.
Web 1.0 Era
This was what many of us are now calling the web 1.0 era, even though it wasn’t known as such back then, but the next era of the web predictably goes by the term Web 2.0, which you’re much more likely to have heard of at some point.
While it’s hard to sum up, Web 2.0 is just a single concept, a big Lynch pin of Web 2.0 is the idea that web pages can change asynchronously without having to refresh the whole thing.
JavaScript & Ajax
This is thanks to Technologies like JavaScript and Concepts like Ajax that allow web pages to talk to the server in the background without affecting the rest of the web page.
This made Pages much more interactive as opposed to the web 1.0 era where interactivity was more limited and depended more on proprietary plugins which you might remember from all those active X messages that Internet Explorer was constantly giving everyone, but Web 2.0 is much more than just Slicker operating pages.
So we’ll tell you about another crucial aspect of it as well as its successor right after we thank SeaSonic, check out SeaSonics Vertex series of power supplies, including the gx1000, it’s a great choice for most builds as it’s both silent and power efficient.
Web 2.0 marked a big shift in webpage design, it was just as importantly a new way to think about the modern internet’s fundamental use cases.
Instead of being a tool to just get information and opinions, the dynamic nature of web 2.0’s capabilities means that sites are soliciting information from you, from me, and from us.
Shopping Sites
Online shopping sites like Amazon were among the first to exemplify this concept, but early social media sites like Myspace and Facebook quickly got us thinking about the web as a tool to post, to share, and to create rather than mostly just to consume.
This also led to the idea of software as a service, meaning that not only are you able to use the web as a platform for doing everything from looking at Medical Records to betting on sports, but also that the companies providing these Services can continually update them in the background.
A concept we’re obviously very used to today, and that has been monetised heavily by services like AWS and Microsoft Azure and Adobe.
Remember when you can just buy a seat, a licence, you can just use the software forever if you didn’t want upgrades but what lies Beyond Web 2.0 right now it’s a little bit unclear as there are a couple of competing definitions of what web 3 or web 3.0 might mean.
Blockchain
The former is the idea that more and more services will be moved to a blockchain model to lessen our dependence on very few corporations hoovering up all users personal information providing an in ornament amount of services.
But given how blockchain hasn’t taken off in the same way crypto enthusiasts have wanted web 3.0, it seems like it’s more of a possible vision of the future rather than a reality, by contrast web 3.0 is also known as the semantic web.
Meaning that the content of web pages would be designed to be more machine-readable by using tags that would allow outside services to quickly make sense of information on the page.
AI Domination
But you could argue that AI has already been able to scoop this kind of information and quickly create accurate summaries without the need for manual tagging by a human.
In fact, there is another Third Way To Think of is web3, or web 3.0, as simply being a web dominated by AI.
Seeing as the AI we’re used to are more centralized, it’s almost the philosophical opposite of a web 3.0 blockchains, which is more about privacy and freedom from a platform dominated by a small group of huge companies.
Web 3.0 – Web 2.0 Successor?
This means that we probably haven’t arrived at a true successor to Web 2.0 yet, will it be web 3.0?
Who knows what it will look like when it does happen, what we do actually know is that Elder Millennials will be mad at it.
What do you think about web 3.0?
Will web 3.0 come in the form of AI?
Do you think web 3.0 is the answer we’re looking for? Or has web 3.0 lost its way?
You can learn more here; @techquickie
Read More: 7 Things to Remove From Your Website Immediately
The evolution of the web is commonly described in three main stages:
Web1, Web2, and Web3.
Each version represents a shift in how people access information, interact online, and control digital content.
Web 1: The Read-Only Web
Web1 was the first version of the internet, emerging in the early 1990s. It was mainly designed for sharing information rather than interaction.
Websites were static, meaning content rarely changed and users could only read what was published. There were no user accounts, comments, or social features.
Pages were built using basic HTML, with limited images and simple layouts. Web1 functioned like a digital library or online brochure, used by universities, governments, and businesses to display information.
While it lacked interactivity, Web1 introduced core web technologies such as URLs, HTTP, and web browsers, forming the foundation of the modern internet.
Web 2: The Read-Write Web
Web2 emerged in the early 2000s and transformed the internet into an exciting and interactive platform.
Users could now create, share, and interact with content. Social media platforms, blogs, forums, and video-sharing sites became central to online life.
Technologies like databases, JavaScript, and cloud computing enabled dynamic websites and real-time updates.
Companies such as Google, Facebook, and YouTube dominated this era. While Web2 encouraged creativity and global connectivity, it also centralized power, with large platforms controlling user data, content distribution, and advertising revenue.
Privacy and data ownership became major concerns.
Web 3: The Read-Write-Own Web
Web3 represents the newest stage of the internet and focuses on decentralization and user ownership.
Built on blockchain technology, Web3 enables decentralized applications (dApps), smart contracts, and digital assets like cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
Instead of relying on centralized servers, data is distributed across networks, increasing transparency and security.
Users can control their identities and assets without intermediaries. Although Web3 is still developing and faces challenges such as scalability, regulation, and usability, it aims to solve many of the issues created by Web2’s centralized systems.
In conclusion, each version of the web reflects changing technological capabilities and user needs. Web1 introduced access to information, Web2 enabled interaction and social connectivity, and Web3 seeks to return control and ownership to users.
Together, they show how the internet continues to evolve toward a more open and user-focused future.
What the web would be like without Web2 and Web3
To understand what the web would be like without Web 2 and Web 3, it helps to imagine a world where the internet never moved beyond its earliest stage, commonly known as Web1.
In this scenario, the web would remain primarily a read-only space, focused on information delivery rather than interaction, participation, or ownership.
Without Web2, the internet would lack social media, user-generated content, and real-time communication platforms.
There would be no Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or Twitter. Blogs would be rare and difficult to maintain, and comments, likes, shares, and reviews would not exist.
Ordinary users would not create content easily; instead, most information would be published by institutions, companies, or individuals with technical knowledge.
The web would feel quiet, static, and one-directional, more like a massive digital encyclopedia than a living social space.
Online communication would be limited. Email and basic discussion boards might exist, but instant messaging, live streaming, and collaborative tools would be uncommon or nonexistent.
News updates would be slow, with websites updating manually rather than continuously.
Viral trends, online communities, and influencer culture would not emerge, as there would be no platforms designed to amplify or distribute user content at scale.
Without Web3, the web would also lack decentralization, digital ownership, and blockchain-based systems.
Cryptocurrencies, decentralised finance (DeFi), NFTs, and decentralised applications would not exist.
Digital assets would remain fully controlled by centralised platforms or institutions, with users having no way to truly own or transfer value online without intermediaries.
Identity would stay tied to usernames and passwords managed by companies, rather than user-controlled digital wallets or decentralised identities.
E-commerce would still exist, but in a simpler form. Online shopping sites would function like static catalogues with basic checkout systems.
Personalisation would be minimal, and recommendation algorithms would be less sophisticated.
Cloud-based services, software-as-a-service platforms, and real-time collaboration tools would be far less advanced, making remote work and global digital businesses harder to sustain.
Overall, a web without Web 2 and Web 3 would be far less engaging, inclusive, and innovative.
While it might offer greater simplicity and fewer privacy concerns caused by data-hungry platforms, it would also limit creativity, community building, and economic opportunity.
The internet would be a tool for accessing information rather than a space for social interaction, digital economies, and shared experiences.
In essence, without Web2 and Web3, the web would still be useful, but it would lack the depth, dynamism, and user empowerment that define the modern online world.
