The Emergence of Decentralized Web 3.0

O'Reilly and others coined the term "Web 2.0" between 1999 and 2004 to describe the transition from expensive servers' static desktop web pages geared for information consumption to interactive experiences and user-generated content that gave rise to Uber, Airbnb, Facebook, and Instagram. Three fundamental layers of innovation, namely mobile, social, and cloud, played a significant role in the growth of Web 2.0.

Before the introduction of Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook in 2004, the Internet was primarily a mysterious and private space. These social networks encouraged users to produce positive material, including recommendations and referrals. For example, they convinced people to share images online with particular friend groups, to let strangers stay in their homes through Airbnb, and even to take an Uber in a stranger's car.

The cloud commoditized the creation and upkeep of websites and applications by aggregating and streamlining mass-produced computer gear in several, enormous data centers spread throughout the globe. Companies might decide to rent storage, computing power, and management tools instead of purchasing and maintaining their own expensive and specialized infrastructure upfront. Low-cost resources that could scale as their firms evolved could be advantageous for millions of entrepreneurial endeavors.

While the Web 2.0 wave is still producing results, the next significant paradigm change in internet applications, properly referred to as Web 3.0, is also starting to show signs of progress. Web 3.0, initially known as the Semantic Web by Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the Web, is an even more profound upheaval that will eventually cast everything that has come before in its shadow. Open, trustless, and permissionless networks are a big step forward.

They are "open" in the sense that they were created using open source software by a transparent and accessible community of developers and were carried out in public view.
"Trustless" in the sense that it enables direct communication between users, either in public or privately, without the need for a third party.
"Permissionless" in the sense that anyone can participate—both users and suppliers—without receiving permission from a regulatory organization.