Evolutionary Change from Web 1.0 to 3.0

What would your life be like without the Internet? 

A study by TaTa Communications has shown that Singaporeans usually spend a minimum of 6 hours per day on the Internet. Out of all the Singaporeans, 78% of them have experienced FOMO aka Fear of Missing Out when there is no internet access. Given the amount of time people have spent on their internet devices, it would be really hard to stay unconnected in this day and age.

Despite being heavily reliant on the Internet, most users still lack a deeper understanding of how it really works. Thus, this brings me back to today's topic about the three stages of internet growth. 

Starting with the first stage of how the Internet first came about, Web 1.0 was listed in 1990 as a "Read-Only" web.  It was an one-sided communication of using the web solely to present the  information for internet users. Take for example: Shopping websites, the main goal is to create an online presence and make their information available to anyone. 

Hence, the lack of active interaction with the web lead to the new creation of Web 2.0 aka as a "Read-Write" web which was launched in 1999. Web 2.0 is an interactive and social web, allowing users to create individual content. People could interact, share and network with one another simply by connecting to the web. Thanks to the rise of social media, websites like Facebook, Youtube and Twitter are able to reach out to all kinds of generation. 

So, if Web 2.0 was so great, why did we end up with the creation of Web 3.0?

Despite the many ideas Web 2.0 inspired, there is still limits to what it can or cannot do. 

Take for example: Facebook, a social networking site founded in 2004. At this moment, Facebook is  the most visited social platform in the world and achieve a total of 2.2 billion active users. As seen with the recent Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal where the personal data of 87 million Facebook users was shared to a private company. 

As a result, many users' personal data like demographics, contact details, interests had been routinely stolen and sold to highest bidders. While we encourage users to share more of their private information on Web 2.0, it is also a double edged sword that can either hurt or help in the future. 

So, what makes Web 3.0 special? 

Web 3.0 is defined as a third-generation of the Web, aka The Semantic Web, is a system that allows machines to understand and respond to complex human requests. A huge benefit of Web 3.0 is the move towards anti monopoly and pro-privacy, where it offers the promise to bring a decentralised and fair structure to the Internet. 

The question is "Is Web 3.0 here yet?"

Many users believe that Web 3.0 is already in transition, but the truth is that Web 2.0 did not automatically replace Web 1.0. The move to Web 3.0 is a revolution in motion, predicting the future can only be a guessing game. 

Let me know what you think on the comment down below! :D