The number system we have become familiar with for the different versions of the web is interesting.  We’ve all heard of, and probably use, Web 2.0 sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Now the term Web 3.0 has been popping up in the news.  There is even a Web 3.0 conference coming up in May (3).  What exactly is Web 3.0, or the Semantic web, as it is commonly called?

First, a quick overview of Web 2.0; social media sites, with many pages of content created by each individual user; again Facebook and Twitter are great examples.  These sites are primarily user interaction with other people across the globe with little interference/interaction from the site.  Some other examples include Flickr and StumbleUpon.  These sites offer enormous amounts of information but are fairly limited when interacting with other sites.

First and foremost, Web 3.0 is open.  The semantic web is all about cross-platform collaboration.  This allows users to move from site to site, interacting with a site’s content (owner and user-generated) while retaining the same profile information for other sites.  Currently, in Web 2.0, each application keeps its data to itself.  I have to login into different websites or applications to pull up different information.  Web 3.0 integrates this information; imagine Facebook with integrated feeds and interaction from all your other social networking sites, your calendar, email, etc.  All this information was in separate applications or Web sites; now can be accessed in a more streamlined way.  The vision of Web 3.0 is unrestricted navigation. 

Web 3.0 is all about fast applications that work across all computer and mobile platforms.  The 3D aspect of Web 3.0 comes into play with our lives.  It will spread from our computers and cell phones to our cars and refrigerators!

Finding information will be easier in Web 3.0.  In the article “What is Web 3.0?” Allan Cho says “Where Web 3.0 is about control of information Web 2.0 is about information overload”.  Web 3.0 expands on the fundamentals that have been laid down by Web 2.0.  Searches in Web 3.0 will bring more accurate and relevant results using intelligent technology.  This intelligent technology is not artificial intelligence but natural language processing, machine-based learning and reasoning, and intelligent applications.  Searches will reflect the preferences and tendencies of individual users in order to restrict the information overload.

The 3-dimensional web connects information not by wires, but by similarities in the data or interests of the user (4).  The concepts of Web 3.0 and the semantic web are still developing.  We are just grazing the beginning of the possibilities that will be brought about by this next level in the evolution of the internet.