I was asked to try to explain exactly what “Web 2.0″ was in simple words. If you hunt around on the Internet (Web 1.0?) you find all kinds of worthy commentary about interactivity and rich media, about technology (Ajax) and even notes on Wikipedia about the use of rounded edges and large fonts. Tony Fish and Ajit Jaokar also published a book on Mobile Web 2.0 which highlights how mobile devices create content “at the point of inspiration.”

In fact, if you keep looking, you will find references to Web 3.0, and even Web 4.0, and so on. So here’s my simple, non-technical view of the evolution of Web X.0:

  • Web 1.0 = Corporations run the Internet
  • Web 2.0 = Individuals create the content
  • Web 3.0 = Individuals create the applications
  • Web 4.0 =  ?

Web 1.0: Life was simple, organisations created web sites, they posted information, links and documents, and started doing business over the web. Some organisations started to let their communities sell their own stuff through the portal. Some started doing even smarter things with searches, and the idea of metadata became important.

Web 2.0: Life gets more interesting. “Readership” becomes a “Community” and we can upload our own content, easy enough for anyone to do it. This can be real content, as in documents to Wikipedia, pictures to Flickr, movies to YouTube, or it could be links and commentary to Digg and Del.icio.us. The last two are different, because they allow me as an individual to provide my own metadata - to express my view of the Internet, with my links and my structure - my metadata, not someone else’s metadata.

Web 3.0: (Online) Life has many more opportunities. The “Community” becomes empowered. With Web 2.0 we already see “Mashups” where smart people can link Maps, Photos and Content together into a new application, but Web 3.0 would make it easy for anyone to create a new application. Drag’n'Drop maybe, but you need the network to figure out the how, and that’s not the same as a programmer’s toolkit or some pre-built rules in a portal. Wikipedia starts by referring to Web 3.0 as the “Semantic Web” - where the content is associated with meaning, not just text with tags. This means we - and hence our applications - can build a view of the Internet with understanding of context and consequence.

Web 4.0: Life imitates Art? Start here…