HTML5 and the evolution of HTML; tracing the origins of digital platforms

Abstract

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) has experienced a major transformation during the last decade prior to releasing its latest version known as HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language 5). Several elements conceived around HTML during this period introduced significant problems in the development of the standard due to an increasing fragmentation and complexity in protocols, platforms, devices and systems. With the setting up of the WHATWG (Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group) and the popularization of HTML5, initial disagreements between W3C (World Wide Consortium) and other digital platforms around the strategy to follow were put to an end. However, the development of HTML5 has opened up doors to profound changes in the way that web standards are produced and the role of the Web as a techno-social platform. For shedding some light on these issues, this paper provides a retrospective throughout a historical revision of the evolution of HTML, shedding some light into the technical, economic and social factors that helped to create a “Living Standard”. For achieving this objective, the paper is built on the empirical evidence gathered from 21 interviews carried out with different HTML5 experts as well as a documentation analysis around the hypertext standard. This contribution stresses how the platform economy paradigm emerged thanks to different factors contributing to the increasing centralization that can be observed nowadays. Lastly, it is argued that the role of organizations like W3C and others should be strengthened for avoiding the oligopolistic practices of digital platforms in future episodes of socio-technical controversies.