The Semantic Web Experience
It is pretty clear that the future of the web is heading toward being completely semantic. The term “semantic” is used to describe a way in which information is gathered and exchanged amongst individuals across the internet. We are seeing large steps in a more open and user-generated exchange with the popularity and success of the social media boom. Despite the wide scale adoption of various social media platforms, we have yet to experience the complete semantic web experience.
In my eyes, the semantic web is one in which information and data arrive in a totally unique and user-defined path. In other words, when a user seeks information regarding a particular book, for example, the semantic web will be able to deliver the kinds of information and data that is pertinent to the user. The data is algorithmically determined by examining every bit of information available about the user. Their online habits, tendencies, actions, and communities all come in to effect when calculating the proper results.
The most critical aspect of the semantic web experience lies in its ability to produce totally unique results depending upon the user who is requesting the data.
This is a very different model from what we are used to. The traditional search engine catalogs millions of web sites and delivers us results in a static fashion. There is no interaction between the user (his/her online actions) and the search engine. This will likely change.
Some online services are taking the semantic web idea and creating some noteworthy products. One particular service I find very interesting is AdaptiveBlue’s Glue. It allows users to browse the internet while interacting with their social graph. Innovative research tool, Diigo, allows its users to highlight, annotate, tag, and share pages among an online community.
Glue Overview from AdaptiveBlue on Vimeo.
Diigo Demo
Both of these services (and a host of others) demonstrate the progression of the internet. We have seen the success and value of social networks…it is time to create a larger, more transparent web experience…the semantic web experience.
