Social media has made the web all about me, me, me.

Pushing a company agenda on social media is like throwing water balloons at a porcupine.

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

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.

It had not yet been named Silicon Valley, but you had the defense industry, you had Hewlett-Packard. But you also had the counter-culture, the Bay Area. That entire brew came together in Steve Jobs.

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.

Consumers are taking ownership of brands, and their referral power is priceless.