Prerequisites
To fully understand the content of this article, you should be familiar with concepts such as web, web 1.0, web 2.0, web 3.0, and so on.
World Wide Web: In simple terms, the web refers to all the public websites or pages that users can access on their local computers and other devices through the internet.
Web 1.0: Web 1.0 refers to the early stage of the World Wide Web when it was first introduced and became publicly accessible. It was characterized by static web pages and limited user interaction.
Web 2.0: Web 2.0 is the second generation of the World Wide Web. It represents a shift from the static and one-way web (Web 1.0) to a more dynamic, interactive web experience. Web 2.0 is the age of user participation, social media, and the ability for people to create, like, comment, and share content online.
Web 3.0: Web 3.0 is the next generation after Web 2.0, it is decentralized in nature and heavily depends on the blockchain.
Introduction
Back in 2022, someone mentioned Web 5 to me, and I thought, 'Hold up! We barely got our heads around Web 3, and where on earth is Web 4?' Fast forward to this year, after listening to some talks on Web 5, I discovered that Web 5 is the real deal as it solves the problems that Web 3 is trying to solve while also improving on the shortcomings of Web 3.
Get ready to explore the awesome side of Web 5! This article explains why it's so cool, what problems it solves, and how we can all benefit from it.
Acronyms
DID: Decentralized Identifiers.
DWN: Decentralized web nodes.
W3C: World Wide Web Consortium
Why We're Talking About Web 5
According to TBD docs, Web 5 brings decentralized identity and data storage to your applications. It lets developers focus on creating delightful user experiences while returning ownership of data and identity to individuals.
The issue with the current state of the web is that the users of applications and websites have no control over how their data is used, which could lead to privacy violations, security risks, and data monetization, where our data is sold to advertisers for targeted ads.
Web 5 intends to give people control over their data, allowing them to choose how their data is used. I'll describe how this can be accomplished with Web 5 technology in the next section.
How does Web 5 work?
Web 5 works with three fundamental pillars or technologies which when brought together enable developers to create applications and software that are truly decentralized.
Decentralized Identifiers(DID).
Decentralized Identifiers are a type of identifier that is created and owned by the user of the identifier (usually an individual) rather than being issued or managed by the creators of software or a central body. It is this DID that is used to identify each user, and due to the unique nature of DIDs, no two persons can have the same DID. You can think of it as a fingerprint, which is unique to different persons, or as an IP address, which is also unique to each device and can be used to identify each device. DIDs are a fundamental concept in decentralized identity systems and aim to give individuals more control over their digital identity.
DID is basically a set of specifications established by The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). These specifications define the syntax and semantics of DIDs, and the processes for creating and using them.
The W3C approved the DID 1.0 specification as a W3C Recommendation on July 19, 2022.
Below is what a sample DID looks like
did:example:123456789abcdefghi
In the code block above, did stands for decentralized identifier, the example stands for the identifier method, while 123456789abcdefghi is the unique identifier generated according to the chosen identifier method.
We also have what is called a DID Document. A decentralized identifier points to a DID document.
A DID Document is a JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) document that describes and provides information about a specific DID.
Below is what a sample DID Document looks like.
{
"@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/did/v1",
"id": "did:example:123456789abcdefghi",
"publicKey": [
{
"id": "#key-1",
"type": "Ed25519VerificationKey2018",
"controller": "did:example:123456789abcdefghi",
"publicKeyBase58": "abc..."
}
],
"authentication": [
"#key-1"
],
"service": [
{
"id": "did:example:123456789abcdefghi#service-1",
"type": "MessagingService",
"serviceEndpoint": "https://example.com/messages"
}
]
}
Decentralized Web Node (DWN).
A Decentralized web node is an architecture in the decentralized web ecosystem where a node is a participant or component that plays a specific role in the functioning of the network.
A node can be used to describe a device, server, or entity that connects to and participates in the network of other interconnected nodes.
This DWN is simply storage (Decentralized storage) and can be on a phone, computer, or any other device, it can also be hosted in the cloud. This also provides an opportunity to provide DWNs for people who might not want to host it themselves, and of course, the user's data can be encrypted thereby helping them maintain privacy and control over their data.
The combination of both DID and DWN is just like having your own unique IP and personal storage so that you can decide how your data is used.
Verifiable credentials
The verifiable credentials standard was also developed by The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). In a world where we want our data to be decentralized and privately owned, we also want to make sure that this data exchange is cryptographically verifiable and tamper-free, this necessitated the standard for verifying the data of individuals or organizations to prove certain pieces of information about themselves in a secure manner.
Cryptography is basically the technique for securing communication and data from adversaries or third parties using methods such as encryption and decryption.
Protocols
Protocols define a data schema and the contract by which two Decentralized Web Nodes (DWNs) agree to communicate and share data. In other words, protocols define both the data schema and the data permissions as they relate to a certain application or use case. These protocols play a crucial role in maintaining the integrity, security, and consistency of decentralized systems.
Applications of Web 5
Almost all applications can be built by leveraging the technology that Web 5 provides, but Web 5 technology shines when we want to build applications that prioritize security, transparency, and user control.
Notably, Google announced that they will no longer support the Google podcast app, assuming the app was built using Web 5, users will seamlessly move their data including the likes, subscriptions, likes, listen history, queues e.t.c to another application. This is a clear example of how Web 5 would improve user experience because it will remove the barrier of limitation for users.
Examples of such applications are
Decentralized Finance(DeFi).
Travel or Tourism applications.
Music applications.
Games.
Social Media Platforms.
Podcast application.
Identity Management.
Healthcare Solutions.
Advantages of Web 5 over Web 2 and Web 3
While Web 5 does not bring about the eradication or the doom of Web 2 and Web 3, it brings the future and evolution of Web technology to Improve the overall user experience and security on the Web.
Below are some of the advantages of Web 5.
Better control over your digital Identity
Secure Identity across different applications and platforms limiting the need to have different accounts across different applications.
Complete control of your personal data as it is decentralized.
There is no need for gas costs as it is not limited to the blockchain.
Limitations/Drawbacks of Web 5
While Web 5 has a lot of prospects, like with any technology, there are some limitations. The major constraint of Web 5 is that it is still in its early stages of development. The good news is that it is Open source and everyone can contribute to the success of this technology.
Conclusion
I know you might still be wondering about Web 4 😂. Well, spoiler alert: it doesn't exist! We took a quantum leap from Web 3 straight into the embrace of Web 5. You may be wondering how we got there. It's the combination of the interactivity of Web 2 and decentralized Web 3 power. yes, we did the math: 2 plus 3 equals the future that is Web 5.
I hope this article has given you enough reasons to explore and innovate with the Web 5 technology.
In my next article, I'll walk through how to build a sample application using Web 5 but if you are too curious, you can check out the official TBD docs. Cheers.
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