What is Web 3.0 Definition?

Web 3.0 Definitions

My Web 3.0 Definition: the location-aware and moment-relevant Internet.

In point of fact, I think most of the Web 3.0 definitions were written way to early in the Internet evolution to really be of any value.

Google currently points to two definitions:

• Web 3.0 is one of the terms used to describe the evolutionary stage of the Web that follows Web 2.0.
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_3.0
  
• Even cooler than Web 2.0.
  www.neubertweb.com/definitions.html

Both leave something to be desired.

From Wikipedia, Web 3.0 is the Semantic Web -

Web 3.0, a phrase coined by John Markoff of the New York Times in 2006, refers to a supposed third generation of Internet-based services. that collectively comprise what might be called ‘the intelligent Web’—such as those using semantic web, microformats, natural language search, data mining, machine learning, recommendation agents, and artificial intelligence technologies—which emphasize machine-facilitated understanding of information in order to provide a more productive and intuitive user experience.what might be called ‘the intelligent Web’—such as those using semantic web, microformats, natural language search, data mining, machine learning, recommendation agents, and artificial intelligence technologies. . .

Semantic Web sounds right and I’ve heard a handful of folks talk about it in this way, but I think its far too onerous to be of any value. If it can’t be explained by the average person, it isn’t good enough.

As early as 2007, Jason Calacanis defined Web 3.0:

the creation of high-quality content and services produced by gifted individuals using Web 2.0 technology as an enabling platform.

More Web 2.0 . . . blah blah blah.

Let’s look back in order to understand where we are

Web 1.0 was the content Web. Generally, information and links to more information. For business applications, the initial search directories actually blocked businesses from even being listed! Early Web 1.0 was the not-for-profit, information age.

Web 2.0 has generally been regarded as the social Web. The Internet of user interaction and contribution as well as communication. It is best known for it’s social nature including Web services like: Wikipedia, Facebook, Ning, Flickr, Youtube, Skype, Yuuguu, intranets, online banking, referrals and commenting sites, etc. Content such as blogsites, podcasts and opportunities to distribute text, photos, audio and video and even screensharing to a world wide audience evolved during this era.

Now that we’ve got history out of the way and the definitions based on prognostications of what might have been, let’s get on to what Web 3.0 is. We have only recently crept into Web 3.0 in a more universal way in late 2008 and early 2009 (although many have been using Web 3.0 tools for longer, the tools and applications described below are just now becoming more mainstream).

Web 3.0 Defined: the location-aware and moment-relevant Internet.

If there is a moment that ushered in the era of Web 3.0, it might best be represented by President Obama’s Inauguration address in the United States on January 20th, 2009, an event experienced by millions in person and shared with many more millions of people simultaneously around the world.

Content relevance in Web 3.0 is heightened by location and time. Intimate connections are made between the real world and the Web, often with the use of handheld data-enabled phones like iphone and other devices.

A few things that showcase the relevancy of this definition:

• twitter messaging that allows news of global happenings to be transmitted and distributed within minutes.
• gps triggered driving directions
• Handheld 3G Devices provide fast access to Internet almost anywhere
• Web 3.0 iphone apps like Around Me (find and get handheld map, phone number, directions to just about business), OneTap (local movie listings and trailers), LocalPicks or LocalEats (locate nearby restaurants with user reviews), iTV (gives local TV listings), StarMap (shows overhead constellations based on location)
• instant uploading of photos from phones to the Web
• gps tagging of images both in the capture, uploading, tagging and mapping of multimedia content on Google.com/maps and by extension, Google Earth.
• CNN’s The Moment and use of use of multitouch screens and photosynth (a Microsoft technology that creates 3D interactive spaces from hundreds of 2D photos) to browse images of the Inauguration address within minutes of attendees uploading snapped images of the event.
• gps triggered multimedia content that displays on handheld devices. Instant messages, sms advertising, and more.
• online storage at sites like – aka the Cloud, permits access to online files anywhere.
• Real time communications like video calling: Skype Video and Google.com/videochat brings distant people together bridging time and space.
• Multimedia group messaging with tools like Utterli
• location specific multimedia and stories such as those found in websites like Murmur Toronto,
• QR code (Quick Response) aka 2d bar code or Microsoft tag enabled content – linking from physical world objects to the Web (hardlink or physical world hyperlinks). Snapping a photo of a bar code, leads handheld users online. Learn more at What is a 2D Bar Code?
• things that connect the real world to the Web forging real time social connections with people in specific locations – ie: qik.com. This cell phone video broadcasting platform and other like it, enable people on the internet to see the world of the cell phone user through their camera. Qik also enables viewers to post comments (viewable to the camera user) and engage in real time conversations over 3G Cellular and Wifi networks. The site also auto messages Twitter and other social networks to alert family and friends near computers that a video stream is live.
• even google search results differ, depending on where search takes place.

Combined with the social Web 2.0 services, Web 3.0 provides the Internet user with the opportunity to engage with people all over the world on a variety of devices. The richness of these communications and the relevance of locally available information are what add depth to Web 2.0 services, creating a new era, Web 3.0.

Sure, Web 3.0 is semantic. Content is recognized by it’s context, but more easy to understand and share is a definition like this:

Web 3.0: the location-aware and moment-sensitive Internet.

Not only is this more accurate definition of a shift in Web technologies, it’s one that techies and non-techies will quickly come to understand without reaching for a thesaurus.

Tagged as: definition, web 3.0