From Glenn Derene, wiring at Popular Mechanics in “How Social Networking Could Kill Web Search as We Know It”
… with the rise of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Second Life, LinkedIn and even Google’s own Orkut, the next generation of Web users may find what they want by using their social network rather than a search algorithm. After all, the people in your online social network should know you better than a mathematical equation, right?
I find this article resonates. The concept that a mathematical formula can replace the collective knowledge of trusted friends always seems weird, and the absolute innocent dorkiness that “algorithms solve all problems” as naive.
Being able to ask your twitter-hive mind friends a question, say about WordPress themes (see: http://www.nickhodge.com/blog/archives/2508) and receive an intelligent set of answers is way more powerful than blind search engine bingo.
The power of the internet comes from its ability to very cheaply connect like minded people into loosely coupled communities unbounded by space and time.