The future of the Internet has been the subject of much speculation and debate over the last few years. As a direct consequence of the growth of virtual worlds and other immersive experiences and the rapid rise of social media, the Internet has become a universal medium for communication and economic transactions. Due to the adoption of blockchain technology, the Internet will undergo a substantial transformation.

The Internet has already experienced this kind of transformation. The Internet has undergone two enormous alterations and is on the threshold of experiencing a third since it was initially made accessible to the public around 30 years ago. Not only have these changes impacted the method in which we use the Internet and the reasons for which we use it, but they have also transformed the way we live, work, and communicate with one another on a global scale.

Web 1.0 is commonly referred to as the classic Internet.

The website is as old as the first version of the Internet available to the public. Every company requires its website, and most of such content consists of static data and material considered necessary by the website’s owner. The company’s website, mainly in marketing materials, provided accessible information about the business. Additionally, the content was abundant on news and reference websites. On the other hand, each website offered information to the user linearly, removing the chance for two-way communication. This was comparable to how information was disseminated to the general public through newspapers, magazines, radio, and television.

Every company, whether an established news agency like NBC or CNN or a corporate brand like McDonald’s, immediately had a website that offered the general public information. This was true regardless of the company’s corporate brand status. A company was the creator and proprietor of an internet-hosted website. It mainly consisted of static data owned, controlled, and maintained by the company. The only receivers of the information sent over the website were website users.

Given that the information was only given linearly, there was a minimal possibility for data personalization under this strategy. Users had the opportunity to choose and filter the information they wanted to consume, but in most instances, they had little influence over the information given. The power of the users to influence the choices of the other users is minimal. In most instances, information sharing between users was limited to their circle of contacts or online bulletin board groups. These were very narrow and limited target populations.

Web 2.0 refers to the webpage for the application.

The age of the web application correlates to the second version of the public Internet, which is the version you are now using. Here, a company’s primary focus is on providing a platform via which people may trade information and engage with one another. Personal blogging gained popularity due to Web 2.0, which prepared the path for the current social media ecosystem to emerge.

Twitter and Facebook are pioneers in democratizing access to and use of data. They created programs that let anybody post almost anything on any topic and share it with a potentially vast audience. Modern Web applications enable people to communicate with others they have never met over large distances.

The Internet saw an unprecedented growth spike. The launch of the smartphone corresponded with a substantial surge in internet use. Everyone is now able to keep a consistent Internet connection. They could speak with anyone they wanted, whenever they desired, and regardless of their location.

Users learned that they could communicate with people from all over the world. At the same time, companies controlling these programs discovered that they could collect vast quantities of information on users and their interests. These internet giants were able to transform this data into a valuable source of information and a substantial source of income. Companies such as Facebook grew into multibillion-dollar megacorporations, and their founders became some of the wealthiest people in the world.

The term “social algorithm” was coined at the same time internet application companies started to significantly impact the sorts of information that people worldwide were exposed to. Afterwards, these firms discovered that they were also capable of something known as curation. Instead of presenting information from one user to another in a random fashion, they might personalize information sharing to the interests of the people involved based on data acquired about their likes and dislikes. Due to their power over information, these companies have amassed significant influence; in fact, many individuals believe this authority to be excessive.

3.0 signifies authoritative web content.

We are now on the verge of the third version of the public Internet.

Data is no longer kept or handled in the third generation of web applications. Instead, data and information are stored inside the Internet’s architecture. Once Web 3.0 is wholly deployed, any application that needs access to the data and is authorized to utilize it will be able to do so. No longer makes an application control the data, nor does it fall under the authority of a web platform company like Facebook. Online applications do not play as significant a role in managing data as is often believed. No one software can assume the role of information curator, meaning that there is no uber-powerful social media company that can regulate the content that users are authorized to see.

End-users individually manage and control their data and information, and a single organization does not directly supervise how this data is used and preserved. The online applications are information consumers, but none own or control the information themselves. As a consequence, the importance of data has eclipsed that of web applications. Instead, the data and information are stored on a blockchain, distributed across several computers, and not maintained by a single entity. It is difficult for a single party to exercise control over the blockchain’s data since the data is copied and distributed among all internet organizations (companies or governments).

The goal is to promote the exchange of authoritative, unfiltered, and uncurated information in a way independent of web applications and their detrimental effects on the content. The user, who is the ultimate owner of the data, owns and administers the information, not the creators of the online programs.

Because the data will be sourced, referenceable, and unfiltered, the final output will be a more credible and authoritative internet. When Web 3.0 is ultimately deployed, it will likely lead to a more decentralized online power structure than Web 2.0’s web platform companies ever made possible.

WHAT IS WEB3 OR WEB 3.0?

We’re sure you’ve heard of it, now what is it?

Web 3.0 is a decentralized shift, which provides complete transparency and allows anyone the ability to participate and build on the blockchain. This is the future of the internet. pic.twitter.com/9MbGHDamCr

— NebulaNFT (@Nebula1NFT) December 18, 2021

The relevance of distributed ledger technology

A blockchain is essential to this decentralized, data-first, authoritative Internet. What about blockchain technology makes it such an integral element of this revolution? This transition, which will result in the third generation of the Internet, is made possible by blockchain technology alone. Several characteristics of blockchain will facilitate this transition, including the following:

A blockchain enables the distribution of ownership. A blockchain lacks a centralized store for data ownership information. Anyone can participate in a blockchain and read the data stored inside. Participation in the dissemination of a blockchain is available to anybody and everyone.

The information recorded in a blockchain is immutable, erasable, and cryptographically signed. Consequently, the data is demonstrably reliable and authoritative (or provably inauthentic and traditional). Everyone knows who owns every piece of information, and the source of all data can be recognized and validated. Additionally, the legitimacy of every data may be checked. This leads to an increase in trust in the reliability of the data.

A single entity cannot curate, monitor, prioritize, or filter the data stored on a blockchain. Since there is no single owner of the data, no one can impose any control over how users utilize the data. This implies the absence of data power brokers, such as businesses that govern and regulate the information published on social media sites.

In a nutshell, blockchain can make all transactions transparent and verifiable, so fostering more trust in the data and its source.

A blockchain is analogous to the IP transport infrastructure of the Internet in that there is no one owner of the Internet’s communications backbone. Additionally, blockchains are used to record transactions. AT&T, Verizon, Deutsche Telekom, and NTT Communications are examples of companies that contribute significantly to the backbone. However, no one owner can completely isolate, filter, or ban Internet traffic. Even powerful governments like China and Russia learned that restricting access to some portions of the Internet for its citizens is an uphill struggle that cannot be won easily. To create a new communications channel, just a new provider that does not filter data is necessary, making the previous filtering worthless.

Blockchain will accomplish what the internet backbone has done, from spreading information to storing online data. It will provide a storehouse of reliable data and information that cannot be controlled or restricted and will be accessible worldwide. When the time comes, this characteristic will be the driving force behind the creation of the Internet’s third generation.

And this is why blockchain technology is the future of the Internet.

Also, read – Top 4 Financing Options For Blockchain Projects And Startups

What Blockchain Technology Means for Companies

The first and most critical advice is to educate yourself on blockchain technology as much as possible. Blockchain should not be confused with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to prevent misunderstanding. Bitcoin utilizes blockchain technology, but blockchain technology itself is not Bitcoin. The initial implementations of blockchain technology deployed by cryptocurrencies are just the beginning of blockchain’s future applications.

Next, you must realize that blockchain is not only a piece of technology; it is a whole new way of thinking about data that will usher in a new age of the Internet. It is as essential to data as the Internet’s fundamental infrastructure for transmitting the information.

Blockchain should be considered while building future application architectures for your organization. Current internet applications rely heavily on the public cloud, microservice designs, and DevOps. Blockchain will be as vital to the next generation of internet applications as they are now. Ensure that the impact of blockchain is included in all your application architecture designs, including those for already deployed and future applications.