Introduction of Web 5.0 – Will it revolutionise the world of the Internet?
Web 5.0 is being created by The Block Head, the Bitcoin business company of former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, with the goal of “creating an additional decentralised web that puts you in charge of your data and identity.”
Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recently outlined his plans for a new decentralised web platform dubbed Web 5.0, which aims to give people back “control of their data and identities.” What exactly is Web 5.0, and how will it vary from Web 3.0, 2.0, Web 1.0 and Web 0.0?
Web 0.0 – The Development of the Web
Tim Berners-Lee, a British physicist who redesigned the user-side functionality of the early Internet, established the World Wide Web as we know it in 1989 at CERN.
Web 1.0 – The Read-Only Web
In 1990/1991, the World Wide Web was made available to the general public. The World Wide Web was a location to look for and locate items in the early days of the internet. Berners-Lee coined the term “Read-Only Web,” and it’s a good one. At the time, the Internet was not very engaging.
By 1999, there were around 3 million websites. The Read-Only Web ushered in an explosion of “web browsers”—think Mosaic, Netscape Navigator, Opera, Internet Explorer—and, of course, “search engines”—due to the vast volume of information available online. Hello, Yahoo, which was formed in 1995, and Google, which was founded in 1998.
During this time period, the first shopping carts were also invented. In 1994, Amazon was formed, and in 1995, eBay came not far behind. Whatever the information was, it was always just that: knowledge and facts to share.
However, the Internet was an ever-changing system, and when the dot-com bubble burst, things began to shift quickly.
Web 2.0 – The Social (Read-Write) Web
Where Web 1.0 connected people with information, Web 2.0 connected people with people. Internet users became participants in the Web, interacting and bringing their own value, rather than just acting as content consumers.
In 1999, LiveJournal and Blogger launched as blogging platforms. The crowd-sourced encyclopedia Wikipedia launched in 2001. MySpace launched in 2003. Facebook launched in 2004. YouTube launched in 2005.
The list of examples of this Web 2.0 shift is too long to name all, but the short story of this era was that the Web was no longer just a collection of things to read. It was now a way to connect and to connect in more ways than ever before.
Web 3.0 – The Semantic (Read-Write-Execute) Web
The transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 was significant, but the transition from 2.0 to 3.0 is much more so.
With the development of data, not only can individuals consume information and interact with one another, but programmes may also connect with one another and perform tasks autonomously. The term “big data” is well-known for a reason.
The information saved on the Internet is now more linked than ever before, and it has gotten richer. The Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR) are no longer futuristic buzzwords. Web applications may analyse data for people, resulting in unprecedented efficiency, analyses, and possibilities.
However, in the Web 3.0 age, while apps may link data and perform operations with that data, they still can’t give context, recognise relevance, or make more nuanced judgments with that data. So, we’ve gone a long way, but there’s still a long way to go.
What is Web 5.0?
The Block Head (TBH), Dorsey’s Bitcoin business company, is working on Web 5.0, which aims to “create an additional decentralised web that puts you in charge of your data and identity.”
“The web democratised the sharing of information, but it’s lacking a vital layer: identification,” the TBH writes on its website. “With hundreds of accounts and passwords we can’t remember, it’s difficult to keep personal information private. Identity and personal data have become the property of other parties on the internet nowadays.”
Simply described, Web 5.0 is a combination of Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 that allows users to “own their identity” and “manage their data” on the Internet.
Both Web 3.0 and Web 5.0 envision an Internet free of government or corporate restrictions, as well as the prospect of catastrophic disruptions.
In response to a Twitter inquiry on the differences between Web 5.0 and Web 3.0, Dorsey said that Web 3.0 is controlled by multiple “venture capitalists and restricted partners,” rather than being fully decentralised or owned by its users.
What are the applications for Web 5.0?
The TBH outlines two use scenarios for how Web 5.0 will change things in the future on its website.
“Alice possesses a digital wallet that securely controls her identity, data, and authorizations for external apps and connections,” which adds to shifting “control of identity.” Alice logs onto a new decentralised social networking platform using her wallet. Alice does not need to establish a profile since she has linked to the app with her decentralised identity, and all of the connections, relationships, and postings she makes through the app are saved in her decentralised web node. Alice may now swap applications whenever she wishes and keep her social profile.
When it comes to offering consumers freedom over their data, it uses the example of another customer, Bob, who is a music fan who dislikes having his personal data tied to a single vendor since it requires him to repeat his playlists and songs across many music applications.
“Thankfully, there is a way out of this maze of vendor-locked silos: Bob may store this information on his decentralised web node. As a result, Bob may give any music app access to his settings and preferences, allowing him to carry his personalised music experience with him everywhere he goes,” it continues.
Conclusion:
To begin with, web 1.0 focused on linking documents (resources) and enabling network access. Then there’s web 2.0, which is an ecosystem where users contribute to the value (of websites). Similarly, web 3.0 is a semantic realm in which human and artificial intelligence coexist.
Finally, web 5.0 is a sensory emotional region that converts the network from an “emotionally impoverished” to a rich experience world.
