Social.

Social media is becoming pervasive at a startling rate, quickly attaching itself to-- and reshaping-- all other types of media on-line and off-line. A powerful transformational aspect is how it engages people by bringing game dynamics that bridge real life with online life. (See: Social Media is Like One Big Game)

Social media profundly changes the business of the internet from the perspective of users, advertisers, and publishers.

User Perspective:

* More than 50% of all internet visits are now to UGC/social media sites
* More than 75% of time spent on the internet is "social"
* Facebook now captures as much time spent on the internet as Google, Yahoo, and AOL
* Social media is crossing the chasm to lead video convergence

Advertiser and Publisher perspective:

* More than 80% of consumers are influenced by social marketing
* For certain types of topical content, Facebook generates more referrals than Google
* Social Marketing Optimization (SMO) is the new SEO.