Pondering Web 3.0

It seems that every time I turn around the last few days I see the term "Web 3.0" used as if the phrase had already been defined and was just around the corner. It seems a little odd to me since it took over a decade to transform from Web 1.0 into Web 2.0, and we are just a few years removed from the emergence of the web's second generation.

For example, I ran across an article from ABC news on Web 3.0 being the monetization of Web 2.0.

The big evolution of how we create and interact with the web will be about cashing in on what we are doing right now? I think someone needs a fundamental lesson in capitalism. Put simply: We have always tried to make money off the web, and we will always try to make money off the web. Trying to make money off the web is not a "new thing."

Unfortunately, the article actually hits on what Web 3.0 will probably turn out to be -- a marketing ploy. No doubt, the article generates more buzz by putting Web 3.0 into the title even if monetizing the web has about as much to do with Web 3.0 as this article has to do with fashion magazines.(See how I monetized this article like that? Fancy stuff. Maybe this blog post is web 3.0?)

I was also recently reading a press release about GEENIUS Inc. who is described as a pioneering Web 3.0 company. Yep. That's hijacking the term for marketing purposes right there. But are we surprised?

I do have to admit, Web 3.0 popping up here and there recently did get me to thinking on the whole Web 3.0 phenomenon. Of course, the first thing I had to do was distill the essence of change between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 in order to find a metric that might form the basis for a change to Web 3.0.

Read my thoughts on it in What is Web 3.0?

Or, post your own Web 3.0 ponderings on our forums.