Have you ever been excited for a new movie to come out? Maybe it’s the sequel to a beloved series? Maybe it’s based on a great book you love and you can’t wait to see it on screen? Either way you feel that adrenaline rush of energy when you see the trailer. So you scour the web, ask your friends if they heard anything, generally try to find every scrap of information you can about the story, plot, characters.
Web 3.0 is the newest release coming out in the ‘Web .0’ series, and it’s incredible. If you’re not excited, then maybe you haven’t seen the right trailer.
Here’s the Story So Far
Web 1.0 taught us to find information using the internet, to seek knowledge online.
Web 2.0 showed us that we can share our lives and ideas more easily. The internet taught us to talk to each other in a new way, to share everything we’re doing and thinking.
But what’s next? Better sharing websites? More interactive web applications? Bigger Social Media sites?
Or could we be in store for something better?
Admittedly, it’s harder to fathom what could be better than our current setup. We have constant communication with our closest friends and family at nearly any distance, at any time. We are able to share and publish our thoughts and ideas immediately, as they come to us, and include everyone we know. We can interact with people all day long.
But just because each stage of this ‘Web .0’ story includes more human interaction, we don’t just want more interaction for it’s own sake. What we strive for are higher levels of interaction. If this trend continues ( and I think it must) then the next stage of our internet will move beyond just sharing.
What’s beyond sharing?
Sharing ideas and thoughts easily was a huge breakthrough, but sharing is only a component of what people want to do.
Think about it. What we do right now on sites like Facebook and Twitter is merely talking. Even if a conversation takes place, a back forth exchange, something is lacking. That lack is what lies beyond sharing.
We naturally strive to move beyond sharing to connecting, and from connecting to engaging.
We engage to change…
The next step on the internet is helping other people change their lives using the web. That doesn’t mean some silly self-help nonsense, I mean real change. The kind that makes people stand up and take notice. I think in their heart of hearts that’s what people truly want from relationships; to share, to connect, to engage, and to make a difference.
If the web represents our social activity then Web 3.0 is the one where we get to step closer to realizing our highest social ideals.
Our highest social ideal is creating change
What change do you want to create? First look deep down in yourself, do you just want to share things? Do you just want to let people know what you’re doing, had for lunch, thinking at the moment?
Or do you want to change people, to help them be better? Help them to move on and be even more, offline, aided by the online.
That’s where we are heading.
The course is set for future change
We want to communicate with other people, we want to connect with them, we want to be understood. What else is there except for being a change agent. Just as Web 2.0 made everyone a publisher, Web 3.0 will give everyone the opportunity to share their experiences, their lives, in a way that impacts others.
Web 3.0 will make everyone a change agent.
We’ll all be change agents, what about now?
So what will you do with this information? Store it away, tell some friends so that when it happens you can look cool, or perhaps you’ll do something something more, something profound.
Maybe you will start to see your sharing as a way to help others. I hope you intentionally shift your interactions toward this new ideal, one of helping other people around you become more of what they are capable of. When everyone on the internet strives to actively encourage and bless his or her “friends”, our collective story will become greater than it’s ever been.
You can count on it.
