Wayne Porter blogged about the tie-in between blogging, Twitter, and social networks. Rather than search new information, a lot of it will come from friends and friends of friends. It opens a whole new world of human rather than machine-facilitated interaction. Interaction based on relationships. Yes, there is still room for search it’s just that it shifts from search to networks.

I made a new friend on Twitter today. He’s an illustrator who lives in Mexico and has illustrated stories for many publications including Microsoft, Businessweek, and others. Check out his portfolio. I believe he found me through my blog but then saw me on Twitter. We instant messaged and now rather than an anonymous reader, I know a bit about Federico.

I could potentially make friends all over the world this way. My blog is an introduction that is enhanced by Twitter. LinkedIn is another connection that has brought me new contacts and friends. I say friends not just in a socializing sort of way (which some of you may think is a waste of time) but also in a networking way. These are people who enrich my professional life. I guess the kind of people hanging out on Twitter right now are the type of people I like knowing.

I’m far from my original topic now. But let me just say that when my friends introduce me to ideas and places online I am introduced to the web through another person’s eyes. I’d much rather do that than rely on Google alone. When Wikipedia introduces a new search engine that is collaborative and open source, it will again expand the possibilities. However, they are not people I know and trust, which is the power of social networks.

One Response to “Do Social Networks Replace Search”

1. Shannon Says:
   March 20th, 2007 at 11:53 am

   You might want to check out these FREE
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   Shannon

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