2.0. So many blog posts have struggled to define exactly what this version number means. Content aggregation and ubiquitous access to information? Focus on social objects and social networking? Transparency and openness? Long-tail mentality and niche markets? Open source software and standards?
Whatever.
While the human urge to categorize and group information is strong, there are no versions of the Web. There are however continuous improvements, each one building on the last. And I think we can see one overarching trend that has shaped, and will continue to shape, the Web and we who use it: Democratization.
You see this trend in how people communicate - blogs and later microblogs have given everyone a platform to publish and interact. The barrier to entry continues to be lowered, and your ability to reach a large audience, as well as the specific group of people that you care a lot about, continues to increase.
What needs to happen, and therefore will, are two things (at least):
Bringing the Web to more people, more places and more contexts. The mobile Web will play a huge part in this, giving affordable Internet access to many, and giving more Internet access to those who already have it.
Using the power of the crowd. Companies and services have already begun to tap into our collective wisdom. As it stands, most of these initiatives are crude, unintuitive and frankly, not that relevant to most people. The signs are here however - the fact that some have left RSS-readers behind in favor of Twitter is just one. With time, social recommendations will be perfected and become the norm. The Semantic Web will power social classification and create social navigation.
So, Web 3.0? Whatever. But the future of the Web is spelled “people.”
This entry was originally posted as a comment on ReadWriteWeb.
