🤝 Beyond Web2 and Web3
Today's Highlights
- Web5 - extra decentralized web experience
- Today's Infographic
- In Other News - a few interesting developments we're tracking.
Web5 = Web2 + Web3
Currently, the internet primarily operates under the concept of Web2 where big internet companies aggregate data and use it for their own purposes. Web3 is a fairly new concept for the internet that is based on blockchain technology, and it prioritizes itself on decentralization and making sure there is no central authority that is in control over the internet. The user is in control of their data.
But recently, Jack Dorsey unveiled a plan for a new internet that combines the best of both Web2 and Web3 known as Web5. This new technology is being developed by Dorsey’s company, TBD.
Web5 wants to be an extra decentralized web platform that will enable decentralized apps and protocols. It attempts to address the problem of the lack of ownership of identity and personal data and wants to completely take it away from the hands of third parties.
This will allow developers to create similar experiences the world is used to currently on web2 while having personal data and identity completely decentralized and in the hands of the user only.
While differences from Web2 can easily be seen due to the emphasis on decentralization, the concept of Web5 is very similar to Web3, and can be hard to tell a difference. The fundamental contrast is that for Web5, blockchain technology is not needed for decentralization. Instead, Web5 leverages Bitcoin and several technologies such as Decentralized Identifiers (an identifier that is created, owned, and controlled by the user, not a central authority), Decentralized Web Node (an implementation of a decentralized personal datastore), Self-Sovereign Identity Service (a system to interact with the full Verifiable Credentials life cycle cryptographically), and a Self-Sovereign Identity SDK (primitives for using Decentralized Identifiers and Verifiable Credentials).
Though the development of Web5 is promising, there are many potential risks and questions that have not been addressed yet. These issues include long-term use since technologies are evolving, how would TBD even make money from Web5, and the amount of energy that needs to be used for this.
The development of Web5 is definitely one that many need to keep an eye on, and the development of the web will only further benefit users if they keep giving users the best possible experiences while keeping our data secured and decentralized.