Benjamin Rudnick

I recently came across this post by Brian Solis outlining some ridiculous stats about Facebook users. They have clearly broken through the clouds, and should rightfully be considered a platform, rather than an application or destination. Beware people…its only gonna get worse So, here are the stats…buckle up!

General:

Facebook has more than 250 million users

120 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day

People 35 years old and older represent the fastest growing demographic

Engagement:

The average social graph equates to 120 friends

More than 5 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide)

30 million users update their statuses at least once each day

8 million users “fan” Fan Pages each day

Applications:

1 billion photos are uploaded to the social network each month

10 million videos are uploaded to Facebook each month

1 billion social objects (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) shared each week

2.5 million events are created each month

45 million active user groups exist on Facebook

International:

About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States

Platform:

More than one million developers from more than 180 countries are active

Every month, more than 70% of users engage with applications developed for the Facebook platform

There are more than 350,000 active applications currently available on the Facebook Platform

Over 200 applications maintain an active monthly user base of more than one million

15,000, and counting, websites, devices and applications have implemented Facebook Connect since its launch in December 2008

Mobile:

30 million users currently access Facebook through their mobile devices

People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are almost 50% more active on the social network than non-mobile users

In preparation for a piece I am revising on Metasystem Transition, I was doing some research on Evolutionary Quanta and the concept of sapience. The classical quanta of Metasystem Transition display the emerging properties and defining faculties that have lead us to our current status, and may help us to predict the next step in our evolution. They are as follows:

1. Control of Posistion – Motion
2. Control of Motion – Irritability
3. Control of Irritability – Reflex
4. Control of Reflex – Association
5. Control of Association – Thought
6. Control of Thought – Culture

Hubble Space Image

Most believe that the future lies in what we call Artificial Intelligence (AI), and as an evolutionary quanta would be classified as Scientific Control of Culture. My belief is that social networking will play a significant role in this development, and will be the conduit by which the “Control of Culture” is shaped. Although this shift might not be a Metasystemic Transition in itself, it will most likely contribute to the next one. Previous Metasystem Transitions include:

• the change that occurred on this planet when life formed
• the shift from single celled to multi celled organisms, and
• the emergence of symbolic thought

The last thing i want to mention is that the emergence of sapience (the ability for beings to operate using judgement), as differnet than sentience (the ability for beings to feel/perceive subjectively) may ultimately decide our fate as a species. We have been bestowed by some great force, the responsibility of judgement, intention,  awareness, control, and intelligence…and it is up to us to harness this “intelligence explosion”. My guess is that technilogical singularity is a likely scenario…so we better be prepared!

In preparation for a piece I am revising on Metasystem Transition, I was doing some research on Evolutionary Quanta and the concept of sapience. The classical quanta of Metasystem Transition display the emerging properties and defining faculties that have lead us to our current status, and may help us to predict the next step in our evolution. They are as follows:

1. Control of Posistion – Motion
2. Control of Motion – Irritability
3. Control of Irritability – Reflex
4. Control of Reflex – Association
5. Control of Association – Thought
6. Control of Thought – Culture

Hubble Space Image

Most believe that the future lies in what we call Artificial Intelligence (AI), and as an evolutionary quanta would be classified as Scientific Control of Culture. My belief is that social networking will play a significant role in this development, and will be the conduit by which the “Control of Culture” is shaped. Although this shift might not be a Metasystemic Transition in itself, it will most likely contribute to the next one. Previous Metasystem Transitions include:

• the change that occurred on this planet when life formed
• the shift from single celled to multi celled organisms, and
• the emergence of symbolic thought

The last thing i want to mention is that the emergence of sapience (the ability for beings to operate using judgement), as differnet than sentience (the ability for beings to feel/perceive subjectively) may ultimately decide our fate as a species. We have been bestowed by some great force, the responsibility of judgement, intention,  awareness, control, and intelligence…and it is up to us to harness this “intelligence explosion”. My guess is that technilogical singularity is a likely scenario…so we better be prepared!

In “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell, the author discusses the dynamics by which social networks possess the power to spread messages of epic proportions. The epidemic-like trends we see in a rapidly evolving, technology-driven market force us to ask how we can recognize them early on, or better yet…create them ourselves. According to Gladwell, the geometric progression we see in epidemics is a function of: 1) the contagiousness of the messenger, 2) the stickiness of the message or idea, and 3) the environment or context in which the message is delivered. Finally, Gladwell illustrates that it only takes a few people to start these massive trends and defines these roles as such: Mavens act as an information source, intrinsically motivated to share knowledge. Salespeople have the ability to decipher information and communicate it in a persuasive manner, and connectors serve to link unassociated groups through the masterful art of managing weak ties.

With the advent of social networking websites, the dynamics of this phenomenon have shifted. Kids today are far more connected, both to information and each other, than they were just 5 years ago. This raises a fairly new issue of replacing human interaction and the effect it has our youth. Does the ability to create a digital persona help or hinder our evolution as human beings? Maybe this alleviates some of the self-esteem issues we see so commonly in generation Rx. On the other hand, it gives rise to a plethora of identity modification and misuse of the ability to hide behind a string of 0’s and 1’s. Are we supposed to “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”, or just accept the “wizard” as the character he portrays?

In a world where information and processes have become commoditized, we must recognize the power of networks and continuously learn how to leverage them. This was exactly the case with Jerry Sanders, as he mastered the skills of rapport building, understanding mindsets and negotiation. These “people skills” held more value as, all things being equal; people prefer to do business with people they know. Jerry’s skills paid off when he was introduced to Marguerite McHenry because of the network he had built. Luckily, McHenry was a “connector” with a vast network and played an intricate role in the success of X-Cardia. Upon seeking investment, Jerry proposed they use the “six degrees of separation” approach to reach prospective investors. Here, he took careful steps to make sure an introduction was favorable by persuading each person in the chain. He understood the value of reputation and even suggested letting smaller investors make money first to solidify a positive introduction to larger investors. Finally, Sanders’ ability to network led him to develop San Francisco Science, which itself had plans to act as a “connector” of inventors, physicians, investors and companies.

Are there opportunities in simply “connecting” similar groups? MySpace was recently sold for half a billion dollars and all they do is provide a platform for people to connect. It seems that creating network externalities is a must in today’s online market. Social networking sites are giving people access to entirely new networks and even markets that can not been attained in the physical realm. What’s crazy is that this next generation of well-connected individuals will inevitably gain a selective advantage over the aging population of disconnected boomers. Whatever will they do with this newfound intelligence?

In “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell, the author discusses the dynamics by which social networks possess the power to spread messages of epic proportions. The epidemic-like trends we see in a rapidly evolving, technology-driven market force us to ask how we can recognize them early on, or better yet…create them ourselves. According to Gladwell, the geometric progression we see in epidemics is a function of: 1) the contagiousness of the messenger, 2) the stickiness of the message or idea, and 3) the environment or context in which the message is delivered. Finally, Gladwell illustrates that it only takes a few people to start these massive trends and defines these roles as such: Mavens act as an information source, intrinsically motivated to share knowledge. Salespeople have the ability to decipher information and communicate it in a persuasive manner, and connectors serve to link unassociated groups through the masterful art of managing weak ties.

With the advent of social networking websites, the dynamics of this phenomenon have shifted. Kids today are far more connected, both to information and each other, than they were just 5 years ago. This raises a fairly new issue of replacing human interaction and the effect it has our youth. Does the ability to create a digital persona help or hinder our evolution as human beings? Maybe this alleviates some of the self-esteem issues we see so commonly in generation Rx. On the other hand, it gives rise to a plethora of identity modification and misuse of the ability to hide behind a string of 0’s and 1’s. Are we supposed to “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”, or just accept the “wizard” as the character he portrays?

In a world where information and processes have become commoditized, we must recognize the power of networks and continuously learn how to leverage them. This was exactly the case with Jerry Sanders, as he mastered the skills of rapport building, understanding mindsets and negotiation. These “people skills” held more value as, all things being equal; people prefer to do business with people they know. Jerry’s skills paid off when he was introduced to Marguerite McHenry because of the network he had built. Luckily, McHenry was a “connector” with a vast network and played an intricate role in the success of X-Cardia. Upon seeking investment, Jerry proposed they use the “six degrees of separation” approach to reach prospective investors. Here, he took careful steps to make sure an introduction was favorable by persuading each person in the chain. He understood the value of reputation and even suggested letting smaller investors make money first to solidify a positive introduction to larger investors. Finally, Sanders’ ability to network led him to develop San Francisco Science, which itself had plans to act as a “connector” of inventors, physicians, investors and companies.

Are there opportunities in simply “connecting” similar groups? MySpace was recently sold for half a billion dollars and all they do is provide a platform for people to connect. It seems that creating network externalities is a must in today’s online market. Social networking sites are giving people access to entirely new networks and even markets that can not been attained in the physical realm. What’s crazy is that this next generation of well-connected individuals will inevitably gain a selective advantage over the aging population of disconnected boomers. Whatever will they do with this newfound intelligence?