That being said, good post, Brian.

I'd have to say this is a great summary of what we've been doing for the last two years while tracking the rise of social media among the "masses".

Being "in the trenches" with data collection most of the time, it is important for me to stand back and look at the big picture every now & again.

I had one of those big picture moments today thinking it's 40 years since Woodstock, and I look around to where society has come to & marvel. (On that thought, I may have to write the book on the evolution, but it's not far stretch I think, I started with social history so why not come back full circle? I digress -sort of) :-)

I'd be interested in knowing what others here think of online persona (how "real" are you in your various social networks) and also their thoughts on your notions of digital trust (this is key I think).

Back to Woodstock for a moment, in the 60's no one trusted "the man" & now we trust "friends" whom we never have never met & likely will never meet F2F. I think a lot of marketing decisions lie in the balance, and knowing how we got here helps with knowing where we should go.

From a purely societal point of view, I think we have largely the same structure of a "liberal/capitalist" society (of course there has been a technological revolution of not small import), and we have many of the same players as in 1969.

So to add to the complexity of my original questions (persona & trust), what changes in society do you think led to where we are in the SM world?

It's part sociology, part technology, part ____ (fill in the blank).

Thoughts?

Rick