Web 3.0 – The Future of New Media

Overview
To understand what web 3.0 is, it is important to know the definition of it’s predecessor, web 2.0. There are numerous applications to the term “web 2.0″ that span all areas of interest on the internet. In regards to business, it is important to understand the trend of expectations from the consumer or end user that currently exist in order to successfully identify and predict the expectations of your client-base as the state of new media evolves. Similarly, having a clear understanding of the expectations of web 2.0 will help to better identify trends as they develop into web 3.0.

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As new media evolves and influences the process of information gathering on the internet, the future is truly defined by maximizing traction incentives (interactivity, customization, edit-ability, ease of navigation, fluidity of function, etc) while providing real-time feedback either at, or anticipatory to the speed of thought. Web 2.0 aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most importantly, collaboration among users.

Forecast for Web 3.0
As software continues to evolve with the sole purpose of providing relevant data, the means of which it obtains the information critical to it’s purpose will begin to improve, get smarter, and begin to develop trends. As these trends develop based on statistical data gathered in the next few years, it is my prediction that software in general will start to act and behave with “human” characteristics. Likewise, as the process in which we find our desired information online becomes more organic and “human”, the emergence of web 3.0 may offer insight to artificial intelligence, virtual consoles and interfaces, and an overall revolution in the way we receive information dynamically.

Know the Question, Provide the Answer
The concept of “Web 2.0″ also represents a transition of websites from simple information resources to interlinked software platforms that function similar to common computer-based programs.

Web 2.0 also carries a social value where users generate and distribute content with freedom to edit, share and re-use content at their leisure. The result is a growth of the economic value of the internet to businesses, as consumers are more attracted to the opportunity to perform more activities online.

Designing and creating function for a web-based platform that addresses these concerns requires one to consider the line of natural questioning of both the consumer and the business.
• What features does a user want or expect?
• What solutions do they need?
• What other solutions might they consider?
• Am I getting the lowest price, and can I have several alternatives presented in real-time?
• Can I participate, interact, or customize as a premium member or subscriber?
• How much can I participate, interact, or customize as a “free” member or general user?
• Can I participate, interact, customize, or access this information from a portable device?
• What incentives are offered at asite.com that aren’t offered at bsite.com?
• How quickly can I consider all of my options and get to the bottom line?
• How do I know the information I am viewing is valid and worthwhile to me, the consumer?
• How easy is it to find and use different methods of navigation throughout a site?

Questions like these define a certain expectation in the consumer that must be addressed in order to maximize the profitability of your company’s web-based marketing efforts. It is better to anticipate the thought process of your target audience, and then create an environment and interface that tailors to that logic. The more e-commerce and web-based business solutions evolve towards providing tangible results in real-time or in correlation to the thought process of it’s respective users, the more the visual representation of a company’s service or product need to evolve to fit accordingly.

Web 2.0 as a Style
Much as the term Web 2.0 is used to describe an understanding the current state of new media, it is also a visual style that lends it’s appeal to a completely new art style merging modern and post-modern aesthetics.

There are a few variables that are generally associated with the Web 2.0 aesthetic:

• Simplicity
• Central layout
• Fewer Columns
• Separate top section/banner
• Solid areas for screen real-estate
• Simple navigation
• Bold logos
• Bigger text
• Bold text introductions
• Strong Colors
• Rich Surfaces
• Gradients
• Reflections
• Attractive Icons

Below is a list of the standards and innovations associated
with Web 2.0.

• Cascading Style Sheets to aid in the separation of presentation and content
• Folksonomies (collaborative and social tagging, social classification, and social indexing)
• Microformats extending pages with additional semantics and information.
• REST and/or XML- and/or JSON-based APIs
• Rich Internet application techniques
• Semantically valid XHTML and HTML markup
• Syndication, aggregation and notification of data in RSS or Atom feeds
• Mashups, merging content from different sources, client- and server-side
• Weblog-publishing tools
• Wiki, blog, or forum software to support user-generated content
• Internet privacy, the extended power of users to manage their own privacy in cloaking or deleting their own user content or profiles. Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

Web Logic and Application
According to studies of American Internet Users:
• 62% go online to send and receive email
• 35% go online for news
• 3% go online for entertainment purposes
Statistics Source: http://people-press.org

If you use a web-based email services, such as AOL, Yahoo, or Google, then you are well aware that these sites attempt to address all three of these factors in the development of their homepages and/or email service landing pages. Understanding trends in user accessibility for your target audience, and tastefully applying that logic to the presentation of information in your website will serve to maximize awareness and reception of your brand.

Rich-Internet application techniques such as AJAX, Adobe Flash, Flex, Java, Silverlight and Curl have evolved that have the potential to improve the user experience in browser-based applications. These technologies allow a web-page to request an update for some part of its content, and to alter that specific region in the browser, without refreshing the entire page at the same time.

Web 2.0 Business Models
In order to gain a full understanding of what web 2.0 can do for your company, it is important to understand existing business models using the web 2.0 mentality.

Freemium
The Freemium business model is found on many community-based platforms, and certain ecommerce sites that offer a “browse for free” feature. It is a model based on the idea that basic services or features are given away for free, in order to build a large user base by word-of-mouth marketing. The strength of this model is based around innovation, offering a compelling product or service not available elsewhere. The product or service offered at its most basic form is still extremely useful and/or beneficial to the end-user. This basic service or product can still be fully utilized without any investment on the part of consumer. However, advanced and attractive features are only available as a premium service or upgrade.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model is built with the idea of utilizing or hosting business-critical IT applications off-premise. These applications are then licensed or charged based on usage or transaction, and offer all the latest innovative Web based applications developed for individual use.

The applications thereby distribute (and thereby reduce) adoption and ownership risks by efficiently fulfilling services critical to the operation of the company. This model is also based on user base and user interaction.

The software is key for the success of this model, but it is not the focus. Instead, technology is important as a key component, which thereby facilitates the business models of these companies.

Metcalfe’s law applies to the SaaS business model, in that the total value of the service is roughly proportional to the square of the number of customers utilizing the service. If site A has functions 1, 2, and 3, and site B had functions 2, 3, 4 and 5 (with 5 being a new and innovative approach to a service, product, or function; thus making variable 1 of Site A obsolete) a user previously using company A would be more likely to switch to the incentive of company B. As the success of the internet is based on innovation and an ever-evolving move to enhance the user-experience, so to will be the success of that incentive. However, the risk involved when considering the longevity of success for that incentive is minimal if a strategic advertising and marketing plan are there for support. For example, there are hundreds of different dating sites and community portals going live online every year. Most will suffer the fate that many faced in the dot com boom. Understanding your competition and target audience will help you to identify the demands that will serve as a guideline into creating your own “business incentives“.

Companies that provide services that enhance the user experience, provide tangible results, and are not available anywhere else will dominate the market indefinitely.

Service Oriented Architectures (SOA)
Service Oriented Architectures open the potential for partnerships, where 3rd party information distributors can leverage their services to help contribute to and/or facilitate an entire company through syndication. For those that can sell or syndicate content, open APIs that enable mash-ups are essential as they allow others to build useful applications on top of existing content in order to increase its value. This greatly increases the success rate of niche markets by allowing them to puzzle together their company with multiple forms of existing software to maximize their list of services and overall value.

Accessibility
Currently, there are approximately 1.16 billion internet users in North America, Europe, and Asia combined.

There was an average of 290% new internet users worldwide between 2000 and 2008. That’s over 4 billion new internet users in the past 8 years, with the current estimated worldwide population nearing 6,676,120,288.

With a method of communication that encompasses over 61% of the worldwide population, it is clear that the world in general will eventually start to think and function with a generalized singular consciousness. This produces an environment in which innovation and invention are in constant evolution in order to be as flexible and accessible to the various and unique demands of consumers worldwide. With over 1.16 billion internet users encompassing the top three trade markets in the world, preparing your site with consideration given to international standards and accessibility requirements will serve to maximize your web-based marketing efforts.

With over 4 billion new users in the past 8 years,anticipation of new user trends and expectations will serve to prepare your company for success far into the reaches of Web 3.0 Statistics Source: www.internetworldstats.com

Conclusion
The evolution from web 2.0 to web 3.0 will be based on the adaptation of solutions geared towards meeting the demands of the end user. As software and technology evolve to present users with more incentives for retention, the success of the companies that utilize these tactics will be substantial.

The typical mindset of web-based marketing efforts identify success purely as a product of a large number of page views or unique users. If sustainable or profitable business is your measure of success, then the larger, more diverse online population is actually driving your revenue possibilities down, by increasing the amount of users you need to attract before making any real money.

Most attempt to rectify this scenario by implementing PPC (pay-per-click) tools, and/or proper SEO (Search engine optimization) techniques, with the hope that they can drive enough traffic to survive. While both methods are proven to be successful, both are based on a economic mentality resistant to the demands of Web 2.0. Rather than doing-away with both of these marketing techniques, implementing them with consideration to the demands of web 2.0 will serve to identify the potential super-giants of web 3.0. Expect the unexpected in the years to come as one can only imagine the possibilities of a “more human“ internet, and how business on the web will adapt to meet its arrival.