Web 3.0, the "official" definition

Web 3.0, the "official" definition.

Some folks have been asking me for the clear definition of the term Web 3.0.

* Web 3.0 is defined as the creation of high-quality content and services produced by gifted individuals using Web 2.0 technology as an enabling platform.

Web 2.0 services are now the commoditized platform, not the final product. In a world where a social network, wiki, or social bookmarking service can be built for free and in an instant, what's next?

Web 2.0 services like digg and YouTube evolve into Web 3.0 services with an additional layer of individual excellence and focus. As an example, funnyordie.com leverages all the standard YouTube Web 2.0 feature sets like syndication and social networking, while adding a layer of talent and trust to them.

A version of digg where experts check the validity of claims, corrected errors, and restated headlines to be more accurate would be the Web 3.0 version. However, I'm not sure if the digg community will embrace that any time soon.

Wikipedia, considered a Web 1.5 service, is experiencing the start of the Web 3.0 movement by locking pages down as they reach completion, and (at least in their German version) requiring edits to flow through trusted experts.

Also of note, is what Web 3.0 leaves behind. Web 3.0 throttles the "wisdom of the crowds" from turning into the "madness of the mobs" we've seen all to often, by balancing it with a respect of experts. Web 3.0 leaves behind the cowardly anonymous contributors and the selfish blackhat SEOs that have polluted and diminished so many communities.

Web 3.0 is a return to what was great about media and technology before Web 2.0: recognizing talent and expertise, the ownership of ones words, and fairness. It's time to evolve, shall we?

[ Note: Make sure you read the update on the unauthorized comments. I also added quotes around official since some folks actually thought that I had the power to lay down the official definition of what our industry will be doing over the next 10 years--really. :-) ]

* Oct 3rd 2007 9:30PM
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Reader Comments
(Page 1 of 3)

1. I have to say Jason that I disagree.
Your definition of 3.0 just described Mahalo.
Web 3.0 is the semantic web in my opinion.

Posted at 9:57PM on Oct 3rd 2007 by Dillon

2. Dude, you just triggered a gag reflex in me. Web 3.0? I just can't wait for this Web 2.0 fad to blow over so we can get down to some real business.

Posted at 10:10PM on Oct 3rd 2007 by Ara Pehlivanian

3. Jason,

You mention funnyordie.com in your definition, which as you know, is a portfolio company of Sequoia Capital.

In that light, and the fact that you said "...experts check the validity of claims..." means you fail your own definition.

If you are trying to gear up for a buyout or something, that's fine, but please spare us the sales pitch.

Posted at 10:26PM on Oct 3rd 2007 by Michael Bailey

4. @Aaron Brazell:

Touché! I admit, I bought into it way back when, and in my defense, there is a re-design in the works. ;-)

I still hate the buzzword, and I still think it only serves the purposes of marketing types. "Web 2.0" has no foundation in the nuts and bolts world of actual web development.

Posted at 10:26PM on Oct 3rd 2007 by Ara Pehlivanian

5. Hey Jason, I think you are off on this one. I posted my thoughts here: http://blog.adaptiveblue.com/?p=636

Alex

Posted at 10:43PM on Oct 3rd 2007 by Alex Iskold

6. I have to agree with the first commenter here - you've just redefined "Web 3.0" so that it fits in with where Mahalo is heading. That's quite clever, but too obvious!

The most common definition of "Web 3.0" relates to the semantic web and microformats, not teams of 'experts' trawling through the crap and creating how-to pages (though there definitely is a market for that too!)

Posted at 10:53PM on Oct 3rd 2007 by stuart

7. Ugh...when will people get off this whole 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 thing? Web 2.0 is a conference and expo. Just because people started doing things differently and started using new tools, that doesn't mean there was/is/will be a new version of the Internet. And how can ANYONE "define" Web 3.0 at the moment anyway? I have heard no less than 8 definitions of "Web 3.0" since July - and all are vastly different from each other. Sheez.

Posted at 10:53PM on Oct 3rd 2007 by Andru Edwards

8. Aren't we past the whole "versionista" thing by now?

Posted at 10:57PM on Oct 3rd 2007 by Phil Gomes

9. Hey Jason, I agree with the need for evolution and reform, but I think you're talking about Web 2.1.

3.0 - The Semantic Web

http://bub.blicio.us/?p=432

Posted at 11:25PM on Oct 3rd 2007 by Brian Solis

10. But... but... will Web 3.0 matter? Does Web 2.0 "matter"?

Can we stop worrying about who has the right to define our experiences and focus on doing something productive instead?

Posted at 11:56PM on Oct 3rd 2007 by Justin Kownacki

11. That's one thing I'm starting to do with Cheww.com, allowing for spam-free search of foodblogs. This is done by maintaining a white list of more than a thousand sites, adding and removing as appropriate.

http://cheww.com

Posted at 12:51AM on Oct 4th 2007 by Jonah

12. This is so far wrong, I can't even describe it. What you want is proper Web 2.0, not Web 3.0. Web 3.0 will be a paradigm shift, not unlike Web 2.0 was to Web 1.0. It is the difference between how one uses the internet and how one lives the internet. Web 2.0, failed or not, was a shift in how people responded to online content. Web 3,0, like Web 2.0, will be how people interact with the web. Mobile advances is one, as I see the untethering from mouses and keyboards. Certainly not the only possibility. Certainly not the correction of Web 2.0.

In all failures, there are building blocks to be built upon. We've seen that already and history repeats itself. Rarely does reinventing what already exists constitute any kind of revolution.

I respect you, Jason, but you're seriously shortsighted here.

Posted at 3:21AM on Oct 4th 2007 by Aaron Brazell

13. "Dude, you just triggered a gag reflex in me. Web 3.0? I just can't wait for this Web 2.0 fad to blow over so we can get down to some real business."

Says the guy who has Web 2.0 colors, rounded corners and a big-ass logo that screams Web 2.0 on his site. ;-)

Posted at 3:22AM on Oct 4th 2007 by Aaron Brazell

14. Here's another theory: Web 3.0 cannot, by definition, occur until after the next tech crash.

Posted at 3:59AM on Oct 4th 2007 by Jon

15. Web1.0 or 2.0 both were about technology. Web3.0 can't be about mechanical turks.

Posted at 4:03AM on Oct 4th 2007 by Talat.

16. Hi, I think there will be no Web 3.0. We just needed to mark the new generation of web services and quantify the quality progress. I do not believe such a significant change (internet has become a platform) is going to repeat in future. Internet is not a teenager anymore :)

Posted at 5:15AM on Oct 4th 2007 by Jan Horna

17. No SIr, you are maybe talking about Online Journalism 3.0 or Online Editing 3.0, not Web 3.0. Also, the web is there for anyone independent of intelligence. So, I fear that your definition of Web 3.0 is bias, elitist and excludes those "ungifted people" who under 3.0 must be embraced and thy be capable of becoming produser also. So for a Web 3.0, please stick to Schmidt's given definition that Web 3.0 are "applications that are pieced together" and that mediation will be possible to a "greater level as we would all be online as content will be retrieved quicker, all we would need is our thumb, and less use of the mouse."

Posted at 5:44AM on Oct 4th 2007 by Kino

18. Sounds more like a bug fix release Web 2.0.1

Posted at 7:18AM on Oct 4th 2007 by Jack @ The Tech Teapot

19. You're absolutely right, that's why I have gone back to the forums that I helped build.

Posted at 7:48AM on Oct 4th 2007 by David B. Litsky

20. Jason. If I would were you, I'd duck! quickly!

This is not Web 3.0.

Web 2.0 was/is about leveraging data standards and technology to enable applications to talk to eachother 'under the hood' (ajax etc.) to help create Rich Internet Applications pulling data from multiple sources (mashups) while improving the user experience and bandwidth costs with less full page loads ...

Web 3.0 (imho) is about evolving, exploring and exposing the relationship between those data sources to create further data standards, platforms and ultimately tools to leverage this even further. Creating and viewing the 'dna' of the web. Having the ability to navigate that skeleton/structure which semantically connects those pieces of data.

Look at 'web 2.0' and 'zoom out' in your mind. Not in. Or to one side. eg: Look at a fractal image and zoom out and out, again and again. Appreciate the beauty of the whole system and how things connect. Not just one element of it.

Then you might see where we're going.

imho. ;)