The web provided data rich information about what people searched for and where people were "surfing and landing" most to least.
The data enabled the media and marketers to target people with reach beyond traditional methods. Advertisers flocked to the web with the promise of improved "clickthroughs" by using advanced technologies aimed at targeted audiences based on where and what people were looking for using the web as the medium of reach.
Enter the Social Web
Web 2.0 brought a new dynamic to the marketplace. People connecting with people. People finding and connecting with people has become more important than finding and connecting to "things". The social web has emerged quickly and the traffic patterns have created new dynamics for media.
Users of the social web are finding new meaning in the use and application of technology as a means to establish extended relationships for numerous purposes. Self expression and affinity to content, causes, ideas and propositions presented by people from around the globe has become a major attraction to what has been labeled as "The Human Network".
Social networks are the fastest growing segment on the web. Geographic, industry, topical and a proliferation of other categories of interest are showing up in the form of "social networks" at explosive rates. Facebooks success has attracted the BIG and the debate as to which strategies will enable what companies to be tomorrows leaders of the social web have become the mainstream topics of the media.
Of course there are also those that discount the shifts created by the social web as hype and or temporary fads fueled by the youths attraction to MySpace. Whatever the opinion one cannot ignore the data and its potential meaning nor can one ignore the accelerated rate of technological advancements.
"The Human Network" is and has been a reality that cannot be ignored. People connecting with people has been and will always be a dynamic of force that has power to change markets, world events, history, business, religion, politics and economics to name just a few.
To ignore the data and the underlying dynamics is the denial of realities that are shaping and changing our world. Relationships have been the basis of human progress since the beginning of mankind. Could it be that the factors that create and enhance relationships have just been accelerated by technology? Could it be that 500 million people are just discovering the possibilities of "The Human Network"?
What say you?