From the very first time you attempt a domain name search to begin the setup of your own website to the moment when you “launch” your site on the Internet, a great deal of thought and creativity goes into making your own website. If you have ever attempted this feat, you know just how much goes into it – you want the right domain name, the right format, adequate capabilities, and the ability to adapt and manage your site as easily as possible. Fortunately, professional web hosting companies like Network Solutions simplify the process as much as possible, allowing people the ability to focus almost entirely on the creative side of the experience rather than worry about the technological side, which can be very complicated. However, if you have ever been more curious about how things work on the Internet, it is well worth researching things like what is called the Semantic Web, in order to gain a greater understanding of the Internet’s abilities and inner-workings.
For those who are unfamiliar or merely curious, the Semantic Web is, in simple terms, a sort of data network that exists beneath the surface of the World Wide Web. More specifically, the Semantic Web is defined on its Wikipedia page as “a web of data that facilitates machines to understand the semantics, or meaning, of information on the World Wide Web.” Essentially, the Semantic Web exists to make automated, machine reading of the Internet as fast as possible, so that Internet data can be accessed and understood quickly by machines, allowing the Web to run more smoothly. The idea is to help machines to understand human-related Internet activity, and be able to respond to our requests and needs.
Ultimately, the simplest way to think of the Semantic Web is that it is the “how.” In other words, the Semantic Web represents how the Internet works. Every time you search a phrase, look up a word, purchase something online, etc. you are making a demand of the Internet to respond to whatever it is you have requested. However, it is not up to you to sift through the entire World Wide Web to actually find or accomplish whatever it is you want – this is where the Semantic Web comes in. The idea is that it allows the Internet to automatically take care of the searching, or the completion of whatever task you have laid before it. There is of course more to the Semantic Web than this, as it is a complex and ever-evolving concept, but this has been a basic introduction for anyone curious to find out more about the ways in which the Internet works.
In our Breathing Semantics blog, you will find some examples of semantic web implementations using the FOAF (Friend Of A Friend) ontology concepts.