My first thought when I heard the term Web5 was, “Oh wow, an evolution to Web 5? I didn’t even get the memo for Web 4!"

Now, my backstory made things all the more stressful, because I was just placing my feet on the shoreline of tech and had barely learned JavaScript when Web3 became a thing. The hype was insane, with constant jabs from Web3 engineers saying blockchain was the future of the web and anyone (targeted at Web2 developers) who didn’t get into the Web3 ecosystem would definitely be left behind.

It didn’t get any easier with the heavy demand for Web3 developers. At that point, I decided to focus on learning the basics of the web, and that resolve kept me grounded. Now, two years into the game, I am glad I made that decision. So, hearing about Web5 piqued my interest rather than scaring my hats off as it did with Web3.

If Web 5 intrigues you as well, think of this post as a friendly introduction.

What Is Web 5?

Web 5 is a tool that combines the best features of Web2 and Web3 and enables developers build decentralized platforms.

I like to get a base understanding of whatever tool I’m working with, and from what I have seen and heard so far, Web 5 is a tongue-in-cheek term for the amazing functionalities of Web 2 and Web 3.

I personally do the addition calculation in my head:

Web 5 = Web 2 + Web 3

It definitely has nothing to do with the concurrency numbering of the different evolution stages of the Web (Web 1, Web 2, Web 3, no Web 4, and tada! Web 5).

It’s like a generic adoption of the best parts of both Web2 and Web3, both being built on the same generic makeup of the web’s favorite language, JavaScript.

In Web3, it is the decentralization of their data, which allows users full control of their data. While in Web2, it is the accessibility feature, which allows users to access information anywhere on the internet using an internet-enabled device.

Web 5 combines the Web2 accessibility experience and the Web3 decentralization feature.

Aspects of Web 5 I Find Interesting

Web 5 has some core functionalities for building applications on the web, they are:

• Identity verification

• Accessible Data Storage

• Multi-platform Interoperability

These core functionalities are achieved using these components:

• Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs)

• Decentralized Web Nodes (DWN)

• Protocols

The Decentralized Identifier is like a web profile address that provides identification verification, authentication, and authorization. This uniquely assigned identification gives you (a person or an entity) full ownership of your web identity. Unlike usernames you create on social media platforms which can be hijacked, your Identifier is yours and yours to keep, forever.

Now, the fun thing about this is, when using other Web 5 applications, users don’t have to go through the redundant login stage because the Web 5 application retrieves the user’s DID once on the website, and if one doesn’t already exist for that user, it creates it. The best part is, you select who has access to that piece of information.

For instance, it is pretty annoying when you get unsolicited emails from organizations you’ve never even related with directly. With Web 5, you don’t have to worry about someone else selling your emails to other vendors because you have autonomy over access rights.

Decentralized Web Nodes provide decentralized and accessible data storage to individual identities on the platform.

The DWN allows you to share and store information. It’s very secure, and you control who has access to your data. Because your DID points to your DWN, you don’t have to worry about some vendor or centralized system doing whatever they want with your data.

Protocols provide uniform data schemas (rules for structuring information to be shared) for interoperability across various Web 5 platforms. Basically, they set up a common ground for applications to talk to each other.

I am most excited about how this feature gives Web 5 the potential to birth a new ecosystem of interconnectivity between platforms in the future.

For example, last week, I attended a Google developer conference in Lagos, Nigeria, and one of the topics that was discussed was “Balancing Financial Security and Identity Protection with Product Agility.”

One of the issues raised in this session was the redundancy in the identification process, where users need to own various identification documents that depend on each other (similar to circular dependencies issues in programming) to complete simple tasks like onboarding on a financial application.

One of the solutions raised was to assign a unified identification document. Then a forward solution in securing systems against fraudulent users was enforcing interoperability across financial institutions to flag off those fraudulent users so other institutions don’t fall prey to their schemes.

Protocols provide the avenue for accomplishing platform interoperability, and when all Web 5 components work in sync, they solve the issues of identification redundancy.

Concerns About Web 5

I understand that Web 5, although a noble concept, is not foolproof. So, when we talk about storage and data ownership, we need to admit there is some sort of centralization going on behind the scenes, say, who pays for the storage? Because our data is still being hosted somewhere on the cloud storage.

What if we lose access to our private keys? Doesn't that mean we will never claim ownership of our web identities?

But I am curious and technically sound enough to stick around to find out. I even signed up for their Hackathon!

Next Steps: Would You Be Trying Web 5 in Your Projects?

Web 5 is an interesting concept that is trying to restore the web to the initial intent of data decentralization while making the transition from where we are in Web 2 (signing off full data autonomy to the large centralized institutions with zero stake) as seamless as possible. It’s a more approachable concept of blockchain implementation, and it provides an easy way for developers to integrate the technology into their applications. Would you be trying it?