A host of startups have addressed the need for people to aggregate and manipulate links in the last two years. From social bookmarking sites to browser extensions, links have been perhaps the most acted upon element of Web 2.0. However, I think what we are looking for is not a “path” back to some static page, but rather a way to access information and content, shall we say “in route” to or even at our Internet destination.

Data Portability Now
This is why Facebook and a multitude of popular sites want things like data portability, so that they can deliver Facebook to a wider audience. The problem here is that the “audience” does not necessarily want to be delivered to the rather encapsulated world of Facebook itself. There is another way, and this “inside the box thinking” by what were supposed to be Web 2.0 companies is flawed at its core. We are witnessing what I might call “a googleization” of most of the really popular and innovative social networks and even blogs. This simply means networks adding mediocre increments of change and features in much the same way Google throws things at us - expecting the brand to sell us hook-line-and-sinker.

To And Fro - Which Way To Go
I was on a call the other day with a great company I know and a rather prominent figure in the blogosphere, and the conversation turned to social networks and improving the means by which these entities reach out to the Web community as a whole. Out of this conversation I drew one important conclusion - Web 3.0 is about a shift in thinking as much as in anything else. One track that many are following is to extend their brand or network by trying to draw people into their site or sites as we saw in Web 2.0. This is not all together a bad idea, but it is rather two dimensional. A better solution (and especially given the technology we have) is to extend great innovation and branding via Web 3.0 advertising.

Links Web 3.0 Style
The first application I can remember (and one of the best BTW) for accentuating links was Webslides. Diigo created a way to create interactive slideshows displaying “live” Web pages that can be acted upon last year. Several other startups have enhanced the way people can aggregate and organize links, but no one has really taken links the next step yet, save Diigo. If we can think of a link or bookmark and then add properties that essentially make them “richer” and more dynamic, then the idea of real “smarter” links becomes more visible.

A really smart link should be much more than a notification. With Webslides/Diigo a user can capture any aspect of a page and either store and utilize a whole page or elements from many pages. However, this is not the limit of what more advanced links might be capable of. Think of a fantastically simple and useful add on or widget that has the capability to leave a branded “footprint” across the Web.

Beyond Linking And Ads - Truly Universal Tools
What kind of bookmarking, linking, interactive and dynamic tool can you imagine? Webslides is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what is possible. What if your brand did not have to drag every user back to the home site in order to provide great value, be monetized in more creative ways, and also left a Web wide footprint everyone would see in time? I know this sounds nebulous and it is so by design. I know of tools with these capabilities being developed, but am not conpletely at liberty to speak directly about them. In a nutshell, our thinking should be changing to think of every “opportunity” to reach another person as much more interactive, dynamic and meaningful than Web 2.0 has seen.

Figure It Out - Links Plus
We are not talking about Facebook applications here. We have already seen a shift frmo conventional advertising on the Web and also pure innovation in the way online developments can be made viral and ultimately more refined. The next step is to further refine the means by which people view all this data. Semantic search, object oriented creativity and simplified development for all publishers are all big topics for this year. The basis for human connectedness and sharing on the Web has been the link, so this frontier has barely been revealed. I will be happy to report soon, that the wait is not a long one.