If Web 2.0 jargon wasn’t enough to make you groan, you should really meet Web 3.0. The beauty of Web 3.0 is that most people, even the ones involved, are still a bit unclear as to what it is, exactly. But it is definitely an improvement over 2.0 and requires the standard amount of updates to Wikipedia and forum discussion. Web 3.0 is still in development, but any marketer worth his salt at least knows enough about it to throw the term around in conversation.
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 has become the universally accepted term for the socially modified internet. Websites that are “Web 2.0” integrate user feedback and commentary and work to connect users with each other and other applications and visitors from around the world. Bookmarking, wikis, blogs, and commentary are all heavy aspects of Web 2.0. But just as you are getting comfortable with the new social internet, Industry heavy hitters have gone and introduced Web 3.0.
Web 3.0
It is believed that Web 3.0 will be an early form of the semantic web. Currently, under Web 2.0, users can find all kinds of information on websites and share that information with others. Under 3.0, that same information will be assembled, organized and shared with other computers. Pages and content that can currently only be read by humans will be easily read by machines and bots. The data will then be used for any number of things.
The Massive Database
Already internet users are working toward a single database of information. Social sites encourage users to fill in the blanks on many topics and share their experiences and preferences. These sites compile the information for other users, but currently are difficult to navigate for non-human entities.
For example, del.icio.us accumulates book marks from all over the internet. It can then assemble those bookmarks for others using tags and topics. But other sites such as Similicio.us and Delexa.com go one step further. They use those human edited book marks, but arrange them in a way that people can read along with other computers. (Similicio.us finds related websites through del.icio.us, and Delexa uses del.icio.us to categorize Alexa rankings.)
These sites require that programs be able to communicate with del.icio.us and not only read the coding, but understand and use it as well. Examples such as these are just the beginning of the movement some believe to be the step between the internet we know today and the fully semantic web of the future.
Web Services
As more sites begin to use APIs or standardized URLs, the more connected data will become. Already sites that want to be working toward semantics are scraping data from other websites to help build giant, interconnected databases. While this is questionable legally, many feel the end justify the means. Someday, it is reasonable to assume that the internet will be home to more than socialization and information – it will be the home of true artificial intelligence.