It was social media that inaugurated the new vision of the world of the so-called Web 2.0. But, as we know, the changes in the time of the Internet are increasingly rapid, and among developers, venture capitalists and curious people the debate on the next stage, Web3, has now consolidated.

“In 2009, the number of devices connected to the Internet exceeded the number of people on the planet (12.5 billion devices, 6.8 billion people, or 1.84 connected devices per person)”. These figures - reported by Peter H. Diamandis in his book The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Transforming Business, Industries, and Our Lives - speak volumes about the transformative potential that each new Internet technology can have on humanity as a whole.

This is why those who talk about Web3 do so with great expectations for future developments.

We see What do these new technologies consist of?, because they are so talked about and if there are any contraindications already known.

Finally we will also provide a list of web3 applications, which work perfectly and could open a window to see future developments.

What is Web3?

Under the name of Web3 we can put a series of potential developments in decentralized applications - for now we only know the technology of the blockchain - which have in common characteristics not only of decentralization, but also of greater traceability and therefore greater data security and the impossibility of establishing permissions to access online content.

Benefits

After a few years of Web 2.0, its contradictions in socio-economic terms are clear to many. Not only do we have several pockets of discontent with how online privacy is managed (and the recent clash between the European Data Protection Authority and Google Analytics is just the tip of the iceberg) but also the illicit monitoring highlighted by the international scandals Datagate and Wikileaks. 

Web3, on the other hand, being decentralized, provides some undeniable advantages.

The data will be at the same time visible to all, but with the protection of privacy and transparency of the distributed ledger.

With Web3, the centralized controls and censorship of today's social networks will disappear, and some theorists argue that permissions and authorizations will no longer be necessary to access online services in general. 

Digital payments will be used more conveniently, without the need for intermediation by credit institutions, and it will be possible to trade NFT much more easily.

However, these are predictions rather than real plans: as with the Metaverse, we also have some practical applications of blockchain here, but ideas about a scenario entirely centered around it are still vague. 

Contraindications of Web3

The main drawback of a hypothetical Web based entirely on blockchain is that today we do not yet have sufficient resources to support all the computing power that blockchain requires. While there are good possibilities on the quantum computer side, on the other hand these are very polluting resources. 

Already today the bitcoin mining - another technology based on blockchain - generates no small amount of environmental perplexity.

Furthermore, there are doubts about whether the absence of central control is really a guarantee of security: what if, as in the Deep Web and crypto finance, it were synonymous with anarchy and potential criminality?

A final objection concerns the feasibility and real potential of this technology. Or rather: is it really the future? Many detractors argue that it is just a passing fad, that there are not enough blockchain developers, and that at the hardware level we are not yet ready to withstand the impact of a decentralized Web3.

In addition, some argue that it is mainly large investors and technology enthusiasts who are promoting this vision of the future. Of course, this is not enough, but this is precisely why it is worth looking at the apps that are already successfully using decentralized technology.

5 Apps That Are Already in Web 3.0

1) Everledger

Everledger is a distributed ledger, where each user has a unique record and should be able to protect themselves from fraud, as it records their purchases of wine, gold, diamonds and other valuables. Everledger tracks where and how an item was used from the time it was registered to the time it left the global supply chain. Consumers can use Everledger to safeguard their purchases by scanning the stamp with a special mark.

2) Story

Storj is, as the name suggests, a platform for storage, or storage. The novelty is that it is a decentralized storage and that it guarantees additional security to users, and protection from failures of the platform. 

The technology used is blockchain, with the same features as cloud storage, but in a free and open-source way.

It is also possible to purchase additional features, which is possible using the Storj coin. 

A very interesting aspect is that, although this is a pioneering technology, Dropbox has already established some collaborations with Storj.

3) Wisdom

Sapien is a news site powered by the Ethereum blockchain, customizable by the user but most importantly without centralized control. Additionally, it offers tools such as apps and features based on the blockchain; essentially, it allows users to interact and create new communities online. 

4) BraveBrowser 

Among the potential of Web3 we could not fail to mention Brave Browser, the creature of the Mozilla Foundation: it is a browser that promises to remove ads and respect the user's privacy on mobile devices, something previously only possible from desktop.

Brave Browser is a new open source browser that promises to preserve user privacy using blockchain technology, as well as block unwanted trackers and perform continuous anti-cryptojacking. 

This does not mean that a user cannot choose to sell their data. In this case, they will be rewarded in cryptocurrency.

5) Ethlance

We conclude our review with a platform with a more social impact. Ethlance is an online platform based on blockchain technology that works as a temporary employment portal: employers and job seekers enter the platform, which simply connects supply and demand. 

All payments are made in Ethereum, which makes it easier to connect with clients around the world and especially makes life easier for freelancers, who are no longer tied to currency constraints.

Conclusion

We can say that Web3 is already at least partially around us. It remains to be seen whether its applications can constitute a valid and better alternative to Web 2.0, or whether it is a passing trend. The good number of software moving in this direction and the growth in the number of developers working in blockchain, in addition to the presence of more and more favorable investors, leave us hopeful that this is truly the Internet of the future.