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.

The beauty of social media is that it will point out your company's flaws; the key questions is how quickly you address these flaws.

Folks want to be listened to, they want to be heard.

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

That's the power behind a tool like Facebook Connect. It is making a Web without walls. Facebook allows you to go to other sites to comment, rate, etc., without having to set up a new profile for that site.

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.

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