Social Net'g

There are so many ways social networking is being incorporated into everyday life but it is also being incorporated by the business world and even in politics For example our President was able to get a huge following and raise a lot of money by having his campaign use Marc Andreessen to set up its' social network campaign. And "As a result, when he arrives at 1600 Pennsylvania, Mr. Obama will have not just a political base, but a database, millions of names of supporters who can be engaged almost instantly." ("How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks’ Power," by David Carr, The New York Times. November 10, 2008; athttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/media/10carr.html). As we have seen he continues to use social networking throughout his time in office. This idea and implementation of social media proves just how strong these tools we call social media are. Society is benefited not only able to have their way of saying something through their votes but now a different voice that can be used publicly, and instantly in front of other viewers including the President himself. 
Companies also have found ways of using tools like twitter, Facebook etc to connect to consumers and customers. It is very easy to like a restaurant on Facebook or follow a business on twitter. They use this platform to not only gather a database of information on those people but to also receive feedback and comments from those they are servicing good and bad. This also allows for others to see how others are feeling about similar products, companies, businesses, and even people.
The downfall of this medium is that when incorporated, companies, businesses, and politicians alike are all under the watchful eye of these tools. People can instantly give their opinion about things said or done by a company, business, or politician without the full background making it impossible for these players to have a chance at making sound decisions with out the public intervening with it's watchful eyes and words scrutinizing and sometimes even cheering them on every step of the way.
If the system of social networking is the vehicle used by companies to make decisions based on consumer feedback this can be a dangerous approach as "Vassilis Kostakos, an assistant professor at the University of Madeira in Portugal and an adjunct assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), says that rating systems can tap into the “wisdom of the crowd” to offer useful insights, but they can also paint a distorted picture of a product if a small number of users do most of the voting." (Can you trust crowd wisdom? by Kristina Grifantini, MIT Technology Review, Sept 16, 2009. Available at: http://www.technologyreview.com/web/23477/?a=f). 
Social Networking is a powerful tool and can be used in many ways the future of social networking is not only is it here to stay but there will be many new attempts at changing the way it is used by consumers and the average day person. Innovation is happening everyday with social networking if I had to take a stab at what I think the future looks like for social networking I would think or hope that the future will hold changes that will make many people angry, happy and some will be oblivious to the changes around them. The changes should concern privacy and ethics. I also feel a lot or at least a portion of these changes will come strait from government choices as to what is allowed and not allowed ( although these changes will be hard to make without violating freedom of speech laws). I also believe there will be the next big thing. The same way we watched MySpace swallowed by Facebook there will be others and they will be even louder than the voice we have now with the social networking tools that are already available to us.