Web 2.0 was the first whisper of the social media era. Web 2.0 was the beginning of blogger, instant messenger, Myspace, Facebook, and YouTube. Users were beginning to interact with each other and the phenomenon of social media was in the early stages. The average person could start an internet platform throughout Myspace without having to code a whole website on their own. People could start blogs and share their thoughts to the world by pressing one button on Tumblr. According to Webopedia this is when technology wasn’t the main idea, it was the communication with other people; they wanted an easy to use website that results in social interaction.
It is claimed that Web 3.0 does not exist quite yet and were still in Web 2.0. This is sort of the case because Web 2.0 continues to expand, but Web 3.0 is in a different category. Web 3.0 makes searches easier. It analyzes responses, searches answers and organizes results with one click of a button. Web 3.0 uses cookies to track what a person is searching on the internet to filter and organize results to tailor them to a user’s preferences and needs. Web 3.0 stores all of your information as well as your current location Web 3.0 is also known as “The Semantic Web.” The Semantic Web “enables data to be linked from a source to any other source and to be understood by computers so they can perform increasingly sophisticated tasks on our behalf.” Semantic web deals with the meaning of data instead of the structure of data
Web 2.0 is the emergence of social media and the beginning of a whole new era. I was just a kid when Web 2.0 emerged and I did not quite know how to use it yet, nor was I allowed. I can’t compare it to Web 1.0 personally but from what I have learned it has lived up to the hype. Web 2.0 is all about social interaction through the Internet. You could now talk to another person half way across the world with a click of a button and gain connections with people without actually meeting. When you really think about it this phenomenon is crazy, if Web 2.0 was never created peoples social reach could not extend past their actual physical friends. Now it is common for someone to have friends across the world because they like the same band and talked about it on the internet. I actually have a friend whom I met on the internet, embarrassingly enough, because of the boyband One Direction. We met through Twitter because we both were constantly tweeting about them. She was from a small town outside of New York City and was touring SUNY colleges. She actually ended up picking University at Buffalo and we got to meet in person! Now were very close friends and it was all because of Web 2.0 and One Direction. So according to me the hype of 2.0 is all worth it because of the connections the Internet can give you.
When I think of Web 3.0 I think of Yelp, Amazon, and even the Maps application on my iPhone. Web 3.0 is a continuation of Web 2.0 with an added tracker, basically. Web 3.0 tracks all of your searches and runs them through databases so it can tailor responses best for the user. It takes information like your location, what you have previously searched, and what websites you use all of the time. Yelp uses your current location to filter restaurants that are close to you which is using data from your phone that is telling Yelp where you are and how far the restaurant is. Amazon tracks what I have previously ordered and filters my searches depending on what I have purchased in the past. It puts venders and products I have purchased before and puts them at the top of the result page. That can make it easier for me to purchase something I know I will like, but more difficult if I want to try something new. Also since I am a frequent Amazon Prime user I notice a lot of Amazon ads pop up when I am scrolling on my social media. It seems that Amazon is always advertising something I searched but did not purchase *insert thinking face emoji*. My favorite though, is the Maps application on my iPhone. I recently purchased the newest iPhone and I noticed that it has a very interesting feature. Whenever I leave my house and get into my car, I get a notification from the Maps app that gives me the closest route to wherever I am going. The interesting part is I already know what the closest route is and I am not using the Maps. The app tracks my daily schedule and location to guess where I am going every day. It is not just when I am leaving my house, it does the same thing when I am leaving work or school and going home. That means my phone even knows where I work and go to school *insert 1 billion thinking face emojis*.
Web 2.0 is amazing and innovative but there is a huge negative that I am guilty for myself: it is addicting. I love social media and will continue to use it every day, which makes me wonder if I am an addict to the Internet. My first interaction with Web 2.0 was through Myspace. I loved sitting there and personalizing my page, and making it my own. I was able to find new music genres and new personalities that I would not be able to if there was no Myspace. That being said, I think I spent too much time on there talking to my friends through a screen than playing outside with them. My teens were spent in the Myspace, Facebook, and texting era. It was nice to be able to interact with my friends all the time but I wish I spent more time with them in person.
