The Internet does not stand still and develops every year. Conventionally, there are 3 stages of development: Web 1, Web 2, Web 3. Each stage largely repeats the previous one, but in each one can find key features. The transition between them cannot be tied to a specific date or even a year, as it happens slowly.
Web1 is the stage of the first appearance of the Internet.
During this period, static sites dominated. Such sites were intended mainly for reading, obtaining information, they did not provide users with the opportunity to conduct a dialogue, exchange files, etc. In order for users to communicate, forums and chats were organized. All changes could only be made by site developers, that is, site visitors could not post their photos and write comments.
Since the connection was slow, such sites contained almost no interactive elements, multimedia, including video. All information on the site was posted by specific people responsible for the site. It was not possible to publish content without the approval of the page administrators.

Web2 is a centralized Internet for users.
Web2 gave us social networks. Each person has the opportunity to register in social networks for communication, exchange of information, publication of content. Now each user could post information on his page and not wait for approval. But is it really so?
As the Web2 social media hype subsided, users began to notice that they also couldn't post all the information they wanted. All content is censored. Publications that have not passed the censorship of the sites are deleted. Accounts that violate the rules of the platform are banned. Deletions and bans often happen for no reason. That is, freedom of speech was imaginary. We are forced to post information following the rules of social networks, to read the publications of our favorite authors, changed due to censorship.
Along with all the restrictions, users are faced with data leakage on a large scale. Today, user data, like a commodity, is bought and sold.
All information is stored on centralized servers. And, in fact, we do not fully own our information. All information belongs to the owners of the sites, who can dispose of it at their discretion.
At this stage, Bloggers appeared, that is, content creators with a large audience. Now you can monetize content by placing ads on your page. Web2 platforms also began to actively earn on their users, taking large shares of their income.

There is a lot of talk about Web3 right now. Web3 social networks are designed to get rid of the shortcomings of web2.
Web3 is a decentralized internet, examples are DAO, DeFi, NFT, cryptocurrencies and blockchain.
At this stage, unlike web2, decentralization is assumed. That is, now all information will be stored not on centralized servers, but on IPFS nodes of different users. That is, each user is a custodian of information. Moreover, users can be located in different parts of the world. At this stage, the content cannot be removed without the consent of the user.
In Web2, user data, as I said earlier, was a commodity. In Web3, when registering on social networks, you do not need to provide any personal information about yourself. The surest way to avoid leaking personal information is not to provide it at all.
After numerous scandals with information leakage, deletion of accounts, users realized the urgent need for web3 social networks.
The Solcial project is a prime example of a web3 decentralized social network. Registration on the platform is free, you do not need to provide personal data.
An interesting difference is the possibility of earning not only content creators, but also subscribers. Solcial will have a tiered subscription. Content authors will be able to divide the published material into 3 levels. The first level is free, while the second and third are paid. In turn, subscribers will be able to invest in their favorite authors and, as their popularity and token value grow, sell some of the tokens.
In Solcial, each user will be given freedom of speech, information will not be deleted due to censorship.
In this article, I reviewed the main stages of the development of the Internet. The topic of web3 is now more relevant than ever. Of course, in web3 we can also face a number of difficulties. But for me personally, web3 is a new stage in the development of the Internet, the transition to which is inevitable, because it is here that many problems that have arisen in web2 will be solved.

Discord: https://discord.gg/xJbMg3XJH9
Telegram: https://t.me/solcial
Twitter: https://twitter.com/solcialofficial
Blog: http://blog.solcial.io/
Website: https://solcial.io
Email: [email protected]