Whilst many people are still trying to understand what Web 2.0 is, the other day I came across an interesting post, How To Define Web 3.0 by Steve Spalding at How To Split An Atom.

In it he attempts to predict the defining aspects of the next phase in the evolution of the Internet, which is being tagged Web 3.0.

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Here are a couple of excerpts:

Definition [Web 3.0]: Highly specialized information silos, moderated by a cult of personality, validated by the community, and put into context with the inclusion of meta-data through widgets.

And:

Analyzing Web 3.0 is an exercise in understanding how human beings naturally consume data. We tend to gravitate towards specialized information silos for the majority of our information. That’s why we have television stations instead of one massive GooTube, and why we buy magazines about our favorite subjects instead of white sheets containing random news articles.

Web 1.0 lacked context, Web 2.0 lacked interoperability, Web 3.0 will be a web where websites become web services and access to any information you desire is no more difficult than installing a widget onto your website.

Although very informative, it is a long post. The summary below should tell you if you’d be interested in heading over to read it in it’s entirety:

  • Search engines will be replaced by smaller, specialized searchlets
  • Search engines will be able to understand context through tagging and community interaction.
  • Search “profiles” will become portable, allowing us to have the digital equivalent of body language.
  • Natural language search will be improved once search engines have a stronger understanding of context.
  • People search will become more important.
  • Guided / Editorial search will be a stopgap where search engines still fail to provide relevance.
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