Buzzwords like these last and cause fuss across the space. Web 3.0 and the metaverse are two new concepts you might have heard about. The idea that the terms "Metaverse" and "Web 3.0" refer to the same thing is one of the most widespread misunderstandings. Despite the similarities and shared characteristics, they are two distinct ideas.
Understanding the words and how they differ is the first step in navigating Web 3.0 and the Metaverse. What precisely separates the metaverse from web3? Here are the differences between Web 3.0 and the metaverse and what each means for the future of the internet. Let's examine the definitions of these terms, what they imply, and also the distinctions between these technologies by explaining the terms:
Web 3.0 Explained: What’s Web 3.0?
The first version of the internet, Web 1.0, ran from around 1991 - 2006. It was a form of the internet where you could obtain information, and the number of users outweighed the number of content creators—a web era where you could only read.
Web 2.0 emphasizes user-generated content; Web 2.0 has come to characterize the subsequent iteration of the internet. We all started engaging on Facebook, YouTube, and other social media sites by posting status updates and comments and making and sharing videos. Although Web 2.0 applications are still held centrally, we can only interact with them, but we can’t control our centrally governed data.
In Web 3.0, decentralization is essential. The goal is to eliminate centralized control and create an ecosystem where people collaborate to govern themselves. Community and DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) will make choices built on a decentralized architecture designed using the blockchain. Content and infrastructure will be user-owned in addition to being user-generated.
The goal is to create a more democratic Internet for web3 users. No party can shut down a network and restrict the flow of information just because they own the hardware it operates on. In theory, users hold the servers, systems, and networks on which applications operate, and data are stored. Users can also vote on the rules and limits that will govern their use.
Web3 is anticipated to be the internet's third significant advancement after the global web (web1) and the user-generated web (web2).
Metaverse Explained: What’s Metaverse?
Metaverse is a 3D virtual world centered on social interaction and AR/VR technologies. It is frequently defined as a hypothetical version of the Internet as a universal virtual environment made possible using virtual and augmented reality headsets in futuristic and technology fiction works.
The metaverse focuses on how people will interact with the internet of the future, whereas Web 3.0 primarily concerns who will own and govern the future.
Most of us currently use computers, smartphones, and tablets to navigate websites and apps. According to proponents of the metaverse, we will use virtual reality (VR) technology to access the internet tomorrow and travel between virtual worlds using digital avatars.
You could put on a VR headset and interact with your coworkers' avatars in a virtual environment rather than communicating with them using a video conferencing service, e.g., Google Meet.
Today, the terms "Metaverse" and "Web 3.0" are frequently used interchangeably. Although Web3 could exist without the Metaverse, the Metaverse could not survive without Web3.
After reading my explanations of both terms, you should clearly understand what each technology does and how they vary. However, do you not see a resemblance or link between them? Okay, let's check that, but first, let's examine the majority of the core tools that web3 and Metaverse employ:
Web3 technologies: These are the most common underlying technologies of web3:
NFTs ( Non-fungible tokens)
DeFi ( Decentralized finance)
DAOs ( Decentralized autonomous organizations)
Metaverse technologies: These are the most common underlying technologies of the metaverse:
Augmented Reality
Virtual Reality
Decentralization technologies, e.g., Blockchain and Crypto.
These are the underlying technologies behind web3 and Metaverse, but don’t you notice something is connecting them?
The Connection or Similarity between Web3 and Metaverse
- The blockchain is one of the junctions connecting the distinction between Web 3.0 and the Metaverse. The reason for this is that a lot of technologies that support a Web 3.0 environment also enable interactions in the Metaverse.
- They both employ the ideas of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. AI will play a significant role in creating a complicated user interface for Metaverse, while web3 uses it for information gathering through Open sources.
- Cryptocurrencies also serve as the cornerstones of metaverse economic and monetary systems while they serve as the face of finance (DeFi — Decentralized Finance) in the web3 ecosystem. People are likely to desire to shop, make money, and start enterprises in the metaverse since it is the virtual equal of the actual world.
Both were built with cutting-edge and future-proof technologies. The metaverse and Web 3.0 are connected through the decentralized web, with which the above technologies all fall under it and work distinctively with it.
Final Thoughts
Web3 is an improvement above Web 2.0 and permits online activities, whereas the metaverse predicts a time in the future when computers will allow people to interact with the digital world.
The two technologies are becoming more compatible because they correlate with blockchain. Every new blockchain concept is evaluated as a possible module utilizing the Web 3.0 engine to power the metaverse technologies.
Web3 and the metaverse are still in their infancy. The future updates can be very different in a few years because technology is only sometimes put to its intended application but mostly going with the trend and making the best to fit in.
And with these explanations of the terms, you should understand what makes them different and what connects them. And future debates should be about other technologies but not this anymore.