Web evolution - from 1.0 to 3.0

Internet standards have changed drastically over the past few decades, progressing from the buzzwords commonly known as web 1.0 to 2.0 to 3.0. 

The web started off very basic in its approach in web 1.0, (being considered the “read-only web” by creator Tim Berners-Lee) it only allowed users to search for information to view, without any interaction involved. Web 1.0 includes applications like the shopping cart involved in e-commerce, which was popularized in the 90s.

The web gradually progressed to being focused in the Folksonomy (a term coined by Thomas Vander Wal) concept in web 2.0, which is a classification system based on collaborative methods and practices to tag content. These practices include social bookmarking, social classification, photograph annotation (as seen in Flickr), social indexing and social tagging.

More simply, Web 2.0 provides a platform for information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web, allowing users to also collectively classify and find information on others.

Most importantly, the 2.0 software puts power in the hands of users and allows them to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators (prosumers) of user-generated content in a virtual community. This is in great contrast to websites using web 1.0 technology, where users are limited to the passive consumption of content that was created for them. Web 2.0 does that by using read-write web technology, which application can be seen in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, blogs such as Blogger and Wordpress, wikis, and video sharing sites such as YouTube.

Further down the evolutionary road, web 3.0 is what many web experts now discuss. Web 3.0 combines semantic markup, (which is publishable and reusable structured data records) and web services, promising the potential for applications that have the ability to communicate with each other directly, and for broader searches for information through simpler interfaces.

The Semantic Web requires the use of a declarative ontological language like OWL to produce domain-specific ontologies, which machines are able to utilise to reason information and come to new conclusions, instead of simply match keywords.

Web 3.0 also features the latest trends for personalisation and artificial intelligence. Personalization technology enables the dynamic addition, customization and suggestion of content in whichever format relevant to the individual user, based on the user’s implicit behaviour and preferences, and explicit details which can be accessed via social media sites and other applications the consumer uses which require the input of personal information. The early application of this technology can be seen in Google’s targeted advertising. Whereby advertisements only appear on someone’s page based on the history of the users’ Internet browsing patterns by picking up keywords users’ search overtime.

When it comes to the discussion of the artificial intelligence aspect of web 3.0, futurist John Smart, lead author of the Metaverse Roadmap, defines Web 3.0 as the first-generation Metaverse, which he explains as the convergence of the virtual and physical world. In this sense, a web development layer that includes TV-quality open video, 3D simulations, augmented reality, human-constructed semantic standards, and pervasive broadband, wireless, and sensors is created. Web 3.0's early geosocial (i.e. Foursquare) and augmented reality (ie. Layar) webs are an extension of Web 2.0's participatory technologies and social networks (Facebook, etc.) into 3D space.

 

However, the Semantic Web is still in a development phase and researchers are still in the process of defining the most usable design models. This process requires the participation of thousands of web experts over time to produce such domain-specific ontologies necessary for its functioning. On the other hand, there are web applications that are pushing current boundaries with search integration and social graphs such as Google+. With promises to enhance search and bring consumers’ entire online “life” to their fingertips by integrating emails, notifications, webstats and more into the same account, Google+ makes the vision of Web 3.0 seem that much closer.