A lot has happened since Tim Berners-Lee invested the World Wide Web in 1989. From a primitive form of digital communication to a behemoth that’s capable of changing the face of humanity, 30 years is a long time in the life of the WWW.
But, what impact has Berners-Lee’s creation had on society? How has it changed the way humans interact with one another and with brands?
As we say “goodbye” to 2019, we thought it would be a great idea to look back at the key World Wide Web developments that have shaped human behaviour over the last 30 years.
The search engine
When you want an answer to something, where do you turn?
Chances are, you’ll head to Google either on your phone, computer or by talking to a device in your living room.
From the early days of AltaVista to the dominance of Google, search engines have remained the hub of the World Wide Web. Baidu, Bing and DuckDuckGo have since joined the fold, and the number of queries carried out by the second on these platforms is near impossible to quantify.
Hello, social
Do you think Berners-Lee foresaw the invention of social media when he created the World Wide Web at the end of the 80s?
Probably not. And, unfortunately, he certainly wouldn’t have predicted how such an impressive form of communication and outreach could be misused by so many.
It’s easy to get a bit grumpy about social media’s impact on humanity because of this, but beyond the bad stuff, it remains a brilliant platform on which to do good.
If you’re looking for numbers that illustrate the seismic growth of WWW-based services, you need look no further than social media. Facebook now has nearly 2.5 billion active users. That’s not bad for something that was ostensibly started in an American student’s bedroom.
In a sense, social media has become a society in its own right - a far cry from the early days of instant messaging and Myspace.
The connected home
We noted earlier that web searches are now often carried out via voice. This has changed the face of search engine optimisation, but it also indicates how the connected home has evolved.
Of everything on this list, smart devices are the most nascent, yet the speed with which Alexa and Siri have made their way into the global consciousness is staggering.
Our homes are becoming more connected than ever, which gives us both Star Trek-like control of home comforts but also a myriad of ways in which we can communicate with friends and family without every jumping into the car.
Media consumption
The days of watching TV via fixed schedules are fast becoming a thing of the past. We can now consume shows in their entirety whenever we wish, wherever we wish.
The invention of streaming for TV, film and music has transformed the way we entertain ourselves at home. It has created a society that demands instant gratification and one which won’t stand for any ‘buffering’ if they’re forced to wait for a show to load.
Super-fast broadband has obviously been the key component in making this possible, but the desire on behalf of TV networks and content producers to jump on the streaming bandwagon has been swift.
As for the next generation, it’s looking increasingly likely that services such as YouTube and TikTok will become their main source of entertainment. Who needs Sky?
Finding love
The World Wide Web has transformed the way people look for and find ‘the one’.
Dating apps that use smart algorithms to find perfect matches have created a huge industry and have made the traditional ‘we met in a pub’ something of a rarity in the digital age.
We could debate endlessly as to whether or not this is a good thing, but there’d be no Match without the World Wide Web, and therefore a great many couples who may never have found each other.
Wrapping up
So, what will the next thirty years hold for the World Wide Web?
Predicting this stuff isn’t easy, principally because of the speed with which technology develops. However, it’s clear that the digital connections we continue to build and use for communication will only ingratiate themselves deeper into our lives.
Excited? We are!