The Internet is in a constant state of flux and it changes and evolves each and everyday. Today’s Internet is in Web 2.0 and tomorrow’s Internet will likely be Web 3.0. Web 3.0 is also known as Semantic Web, where the Internet will interact with users like the way that they would talk to another person. It is largely undefined, still in development, and it is actually a greatly debated issue as some people even discount its existence. Only time will tell what will become of Web 3.0.

If we are to look at the Internet in stages, we already moved from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. Web 1.0 was the very beginning of the Internet where there were not that many websites and the content was quite static and non-interactive. Many websites were produced by large companies and there were a number of online directories and sites. Updates were relatively slow and there were relatively few interactions between the users. Web 2.0 is what we have today where users interact with each other through social media and updates are instantaneous. Websites like Facebook and Twitter have created online communities that foster sharing and debate. Unlike the previous versions, Web 3.0 is a new completely new creature that will focus exclusively on the individual.

Web 3.0 will be extremely personal as site preferences will be tracked,recorded, and utilized to create custom content. The more a person uses the system, the more the system knows about that person and what to show that person in the future. It will understand how humans speak, think, and search. The context will be understood and it will no longer be necessary to focus on certain keywords because the Internet intuitively understand what a request really means. Searches will be able to understand requests such as a “Where is a grocery store near my house open late at night?”.

Web 3.0 has yet to be created, so there is no concrete answer as to exactly how it will work. The system could be based upon Web 2.0 using programming languages like HTML or it may be created with a completely new programming language. It may use APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), meta date, web tags, and software agents that translate the context and relationships among terms into a form that a computer could understand. Multiple applications will mashed up into one so that the programs will be able to do a wide range of activities. In the near future, the Internet could evolve into artificial intelligence or even become 3-dimensional. The possibilities are endless.

Web 3.0 presents an exciting opportunity and challenge to both users and computer researchers alike. At this point, it seems that it will be highly personalized and geared towards individuals. As we learn more about the Internet, it learns more about us. The closer we move to the future, the less amorphous it will become and we will then have a more complete and thorough definition for exactly what it is and how it will work.