Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp down

Yesterday’s 24 hour outage of centralised service providers Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram had many in the crypto space calling for the advent of Web 3.0 as fast as reasonably possible.

What is Web 3.0?

But what exactly is Web 3.0, why is it relevant and how does it fit with blockchain, cryptocurrency and the decentralised economy?

Web 3.0 is essentially the next evolutionary step in the development of what we know commonly as ‘the internet.’ If web 1.0 was the message board era which only allowed one way interaction then Web 2.0 saw the advent of user led content and the inevitable rise of social media.

Web 3.0 can therefore be defined as ‘the machine based understanding and management of data in order to provide a user driven and semantic internet experience.’ Ok, that doesn’t sound like the most exciting raison d’etre I agree, however when you consider the aim of a web 3.0 based society is to create a more intelligent, connected and open internet it begins to make a little more sense.

Web 2.0 vs Web 3.0

The essential difference between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 is that in their third iteration websites and applications will be written by artificial intelligence and machine learning in order to provide consumer led content in a style which is both personal and pleasing. This in turn will lead to the provision of a faster, more innovative and more personal end user experience.

Naturally, this new internet will be decentralised and will rely heavily on peer to peer led networks facilitating, among other things, the rise of new payment infrastructure, supply chains and unimaginable levels of personal security.

Centralised corporate giants such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have no choice but to adapt in order to survive as the internet once again returns to its customer driven and consumer led intended purpose.