It only make sense that with the floods of content floating out there waiting to be surfed, there would be some better tools put in place for finding and organizing the content that interests you the most.
So how is content found today? I think it would be safe to assume that Google is the number 1 way people currently find content on the web that they’re looking for specifically. It works great. It will show me any content or any websites that even contain the keywords I’m looking for, but when it comes to using the search results for a specific function, Google isn’t always so specific. In other words, there’s many things Google can’t/doesn’t do.
Say I want to find some good new songs on my favorite music website. Since I obviously don’t know specifics about the actual content I’m looking for, I should stick to generalities, and things that I know I will like, but while still being as specific as possible(because I’m picky). I should be able to select genre/s, mood/s, and type in keywords in order to find the music I’m looking for. However the problem I may have here is that the website I search in might only search the keywords from a tag database of content on that website. That is really limiting.
For example, if I do a search for the word “Peace” it should show me not only every song that has Peace as a tag, or in the title, but it should search other data that may have a relationship to songs, like a song’s lyrics that can be found on a totally separate webpage. These links between content that is the same, and that can provide more info about a specific topic or piece of content, should be tied together, regardless of website integration, in order to deliver better search results. It’s kinda like a google search where the whole web is being searched, but with predefined filters, in this case, on type of content, artists that appear on that website, genre, mood and keywords/tags.
Essentially this is an advanced search performed from the site of interest, that offers a far more practical way of using the google search method, to meet a specific need like finding great new bands(that I like). I call this linking of data with similar source material and using it to perform a specific function within an application, Metagration. Taking meta information and integrating it across unnecessary(but currently present) web boundaries is the key to relevant and successful searches. Connections between content should be made automatically in this way.
This may involve eventually classifying content as a specific type or kind of content. For example, there could be a song and a movie with the same name, and they also may both have some keywords in common, but they may be completely unrelated. This would be inconsequential if the title of the song on say the lyrics page could be “classified” somehow as a Song, so that when searched, the classification for this title will be taken into account as well.
A reorganization of the web like this is not easy however, since the question arises, who will implement these changes? There’s no web maintenance crews to come and upkeep the infrastructure, like with state highways, or an elected group of officials in charge of looking out for the best interests of the web..but maybe there should be..
All I know is that this kind of organization and integration could really benefit a lot of people in a number of different applications, and it’s obviously already been discovered(I’m sure I’m not the only one too), so I predict we will see this shift in the near future of the web. And if no one else does it..shit I will..because it has to happen sometime. What good is the web as a tool if it could be better, but isn’t? Take Down Those Walls!
Written by: Dante Cullari, Founder & President, Beat-Play, LLC