For the vast majority of people, the internet is simply a place where they can go to communicate, educate, and entertain themselves using sites like Google and Netflix. The internet that we have all come to know over the last decade is what we call Web 2.0, the second iteration of the internet.

Web 2.0 followed the plain text-based websites that were known as Web 1.0. Generally, Web 1.0 describes a time between the late 80’s to the early 2000s when the internet was first created. If the internet today is Web 2.0, what is Web 3.0, and where did it come from?

The term Web 3.0 is not new and was created by Gavin Wood, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, back in 2006. As the third iteration of the internet, Web 3.0 is defined by decentralization, user control, and privacy. Let’s look at one of the possibilities that Web 3.0 brings with it.

Currently, massive companies like Google and Amazon secure the lion’s share of the profits from their users’ data. Indeed, companies like Facebook, Microsoft, and other tech giants profit massively from the user data they are able to secure through their companies.

Web 3.0 attempts to change this reality by democratizing data and allowing individual users to be compensated for the time they spend on the web as well as the data they share. This effectively means that users will be able to sell their own data to advertisers while retaining ownership and privacy. Further, Web 3.0 will allow for the collected data to be utilized in a more meaningful way, thereby creating a more tailored experience for the end-user.

The emergence of Web 3.0 is undoubtedly an exciting prospect, and no doubt, many, such as Dan Schatt and Domenic Carosa, creators of the Earnity DeFi platform, look forward to the enhanced user experiences that Web 3.0 will bring.