At a minimum the majority of search dollars will flow to a social media model because people care most about what their peers think and the technology is there for that information to be quickly shared on products and services.

One thing we seem to be missing is that just as we no longer search for the news, the news finds us today (e.g. this article found me) we will no longer search for products and services, rather we will look to our social graph to what products and services they like and don't like.

Successful companies in social media function more like entertainment companies, publishers, or party planners than as traditional advertisers.

You're talking about a younger generation, Generation Y, whose interpersonal communication skills are different from Generation X. The younger generation is more comfortable saying something through a digital mechanism than even face to face.

As social media is less about technology and more about relationship building, we are starting to see more women have a heavy influence if not dominant role in the social media space. It's no wonder that Facebook is being run in part by chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg.

We don't have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we do it.

Increasingly, consumers don't search for products and services. Rather, services come to their attention via social media.