Web3.0 Era: Everything you create online belongs to you
The most special feature of Web3.0 is that the ownership and control of the digital content created by the user belong to the user, and the value created by the user can be distributed by signing an agreement with others at the user's discretion.
——Li Keqiu, Professor, Department of Intellectual Computing, Tianjin University
◎Our reporter Chen Xi
Recently, with the rise of the Metaverse, Web 3.0 has once again become the focus of attention of major manufacturers.
Yao Qian, director of the Science and Technology Supervision Bureau of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, published an article "Web 3.0 is a new generation of Internet that is gradually approaching", pointing out that the Internet is at an important point in the evolution of Web 2.0 to Web 3.0, and strengthening the forward-looking research of Web 3.0 And strategic prediction is undoubtedly of great significance to my country's future Internet infrastructure construction.
Web3.0 respects users' "individual value"
Web3.0 is for Web1.0 and Web2.0, representing different stages of Internet development.
Web 1.0 is actually the first generation of the Internet. At this time, the Internet was mainly network media. Users visited websites and browsed digital content, but they could only read but not write, and there was no way to participate in content creation.
"People need to interact and communicate with other people, while Web1.0 is static, so Web2.0 was born, that is, the interactive Internet. Its main applications are social networks and e-commerce." Professor of the Department of Intelligence, Tianjin University According to Li Keqiu, the role of the network platform at this time is to provide an infrastructure, and most of the data content is created by users, such as Taobao and WeChat.
Web 2.0 allows people to freely create all kinds of content.
However, when people create and operate these contents, they must rely on a certain platform or medium. Although the platform only provides one channel, all transaction records, chat records, etc. are owned by the platform, and the actual creation of these contents but cannot enjoy the relevant rights.
"At this point, some people will think that the ownership of my transaction and chat data should only belong to me, so why can the platform also own it." Li Keqiu said that in 2014, the co-founder of Ethereum and the creator of Polka Dot Gavin · Wood, for the first time publicly proposed the concept of Web3.0.
"The most special thing about Web3.0 is that the digital content created by users, ownership and control rights belong to users, and the value created by users can be distributed by signing agreements with others at their own choice." Li Keqiu said.
In this case, the digital content is not only simple data, but the digital assets of the users, and should be guaranteed at the asset level.
This is Web 3.0, an automated and intelligent new Internet world.
Li Keqiu believes that Web3.0 will definitely replace Web2.0.
The Internet is user-centric. With the development of technology and the Internet environment, the next-generation Internet is bound to break the situation of Internet giants "kidnapping" users.
New technologies help Web3.0 open and decentralize
Although the concept of Web 3.0 has been proposed as early as 2014, due to the lack of a sufficiently specific and well-known application scenario, Web 3.0 has always been in a tepid state.
In 2022, with the full explosion of new technologies and new formats such as digital currency, non-fungible tokens, and metaverse, more and more people will begin to participate in discussions on decentralization, virtual identity, and cryptocurrency. It also ignited the enthusiasm for Web3.0 in the technology and investment circles.
Of course, the popularity of Web 3.0 is also inseparable from the subversive changes brought about by the development and improvement of a series of technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality; at the same time, the birth of the metaverse has promoted the integration of various technologies. Web3.0 is an important support for the metaverse to realize its open and decentralized characteristics.
"Some people say that 'Metaverse + Web3.0' is the future. Facebook changed its name to Meta, Tencent proposed a true Internet... The layout of these Internet giants for the Metaverse has also increased the discussion about Web3.0." Li Keqiu Say.
Returning the ownership of data to users, allowing users to control data independently, and realizing data interoperability under the premise of ensuring security are the core concepts of Web 3.0.
So when talking about the Web 3.0 architecture, it usually refers to the decentralized applications (DApps) it represents.
The Web2.0 architecture consists of front-end, back-end, database and other components.
Similarly, the Web3.0 architecture can be similarly divided into front-end, back-end, and database. The difference is that the front-end architecture of DApps mainly focuses on communication with smart contracts (decentralized programs), and the back-end logic is implemented through smart contracts and then deployed. To a shared state machine (aka a blockchain network), there is no need for a centralized database or web server, but instead applications can be distributed across computer networks using blockchain.
In addition to the new architecture, there are some practical problems that need to be overcome in order to realize the wide application of Web 3.0.
"In terms of serving users, we can compare Web3.0 to a customized artificial intelligence assistant that can understand user needs. It needs a lot of personal data and user habits as support." Li Keqiu introduced that Web3.0 protects users' data protection. Ownership needs to rely on data encryption to interact with the blockchain, which is bound to have higher requirements on the computing and storage capabilities of the browser client. "However, with the continuous upgrading of computing, storage technology and hardware facilities, this problem should be solved. effective solution".
In addition, data governance is also an issue that cannot be ignored.
No information technology is 100% secure, and the loss of a decentralized system is often more difficult to recover when attacked. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum systems have suffered serious attacks, with cumulative economic losses in the hundreds of millions.
Therefore, only when the Internet industry becomes more and more mature and information technology becomes more and more perfect, it is possible to ensure the security of data.
When each user can produce and control content by himself, spreading and receiving illegal content, online rumors, etc. is also a problem we have to face.
However, excessive supervision on this point in order to ensure the safety and reliability of network information is contrary to the essence of Web 3.0.
Therefore, how to find a suitable balance is a test of relevant regulatory authorities and leading companies in the industry.
Therefore, Li Keqiu believes that from the perspective of practical application, we still need to further plan relevant regulations to deal with various problems that the decentralized world may face.
Web3.0 faces more than technical problems
Although from the current discussion, there is a feeling that Web 3.0 is coming, but there are still different opinions on when Web 3.0 will actually be implemented. Some people say that the era of Web 3.0 has arrived, while others say It will take 5 or 10 years.
"We can see that both Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 are iteratively upgraded based on the user-centered concept, but due to the constraints and influence of technological development and business models, they eventually take on different forms. Li Keqiu believes that the conflict of interest between Internet users and Internet companies is increasingly intensifying, and the development of blockchain technology has brought technical hope to effectively resolve this conflict.
At present, many Internet companies have begun to explore and apply Web3.0-related technologies. With the continuous deepening and improvement of applications, we may enter the Web3.0 era unknowingly. At that time, we will summarize The most significant sign of Web3.0 can really define when Web3.0 is realized.
But at present, Web3.0 still faces many problems, not only technical problems, but also affected by many commercial factors.
At present, the large-scale application of blockchain technology is still in its infancy. With the popularization of blockchain technology, the existing business models and profit distribution rules will be greatly impacted, and the monopoly of Internet giants on user data will be broken. It enables companies and organizations that were unable to master these data before to devote themselves to relevant technological innovations, thereby promoting the development of overall technology.
This will gradually erode the advantages of Internet giants in business models, and put forward higher requirements for their own technological innovation; it will also bring many opportunities to some currently smaller technology-based enterprises, and promote "specialization, specialization and innovation". Cultivation and development of enterprises.
Although the current Web 3.0 still has a long way to go from the daily life of Internet users, the bright future that Web 3.0 can bring and the security and convenience brought to Internet users are indeed worth looking forward to.