What is Web 3.0 and why it is being called next generation internet?

 2021 had some new terms that entered the common lexicon, like cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), metaverse, and Web 3.0. Let's understand Web 3.0 and how it may change the future of the internet

The current version of the world wide web or Web 2.0 is characterized by social media platforms, which allow the greater proliferation of user-generated content. This is a far cry from Web 1.0, which was all static and non-interactive -- an entirely top-down approach towards information dissemination.
Right now, five big tech companies, namely, Twitter, Facebook (now Meta), Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon, control how our data will be used and where it will be stored and processed. Their algorithms decide the information that we consume, which has left alarm bells ringing.
Now, Web 3.0, with its crypto, blockchain, and metaverse use cases, is being touted as a movement that will wrest back the control of the internet from the five big tech companies. Instead of our data residing with centralized organizations today, Web 3.0 would see it residing on blockchain networks and thus, being owned by users themselves.
It could be as simple as a user based in India and another based in the US, having a business meeting inside a virtual reality metaverse such as Decentraland, which is built on the Ethereum blockchain. They could then complete their planned business deal using their crypto wallets linked to their metaverse accounts. And that’s that. Facebook realizes that this is the future of the internet, hence it's rebranding to Meta.
Such is the craze around metaverse that people and organizations are spending millions of dollars to buy land that only exists inside these virtual worlds. But it makes business sense. Because in the future when people are going to wear their VR headsets and meet inside these virtual worlds for social gatherings, music concerts, and art auctions, you need to land here for advertising and events.