By 2012, a quarter of the worlds population will be online, says analyst firm Jupiter Research. And if the statistics of today are accurate, about half of the current online population belongs to at least one social network. Or look at what Universal McCanns global survey of social media says: if youre online, you are using social media.

Social media, as represented by blogs, social networks, online videos, podcasts, and RSS feeds, and so on, is growing. Communities and interactivity are at the core of thiswhich is how the Web had been visualized in the first place. Its now that the technologies have matured to a level where social interaction is being made simple and effective.

And usage, say most reports and social media followers, is growing. There are 184 mn bloggers across the world, estimates a report from Universal McCann. Comscores June 2008 report on social networking trends says that there has been a growth of 12.4% of unique social network users, since Dec 2007. The Internet population in the same duration has climbed just 5.5%.

Shyam Malhotra

What is it that people are doing?
They are networking. Remaining in touch. Finding old friends and creating new ones. And networking sites find ways to keep people glued to their screens, through games and little applications. And as of now they are very stickyat least for the younger generation. Professionals are increasingly turning to LinkedIn to look up people, find common contacts, and initiate contact for professional reasons. Social media has made figuring out who knows whom in your contact list a simple, one-click affair. From your network of 100 people, you can easily find out who knows a certain person youre trying to get in touch with for work. Its simple, cheap, and often effective.

They are having fun. A mind-boggling number of videos are up for display every day, which you can attach to your site and share the fun around. Music, games, flirting, photostheres so much to do and share. Youngsters are having a lot of fun out there.

They are being part of the news. Its not about going and leaving comments on traditional news sites. The McCann report suggests that this specific activity has not grown much over the past few months. However, blogging has become a rage, and blogs now collectively form an alternate news media platform. News that gets missed out in the traditional media often goes up on blogs or on platforms like Digg.

They are showcasing creativity. YouTube has become the space to showcase a range of skillsvideo making, acting, direction, music creation, special effects, poetry, script writing, and more. Creativity gets acknowledged through ratings and comments. And brilliant talent can now easily get picked up for bigger platforms.

The collapse of distance and time. The meeting of multiple minds on things trivial, and things not-so-trivial. The arrival of millions of creators and reviewers. The power of many, so tough to harness offline, finds itself replicating easily online. The creation of new standards of social relationships, however flimsy they might be for now. That is what the social networks are bringing in somewhat silently. There are no earthshaking announcements, no discoveries, no worldwide product launches. Instead there is a silent creeping in which suddenly overwhelms you.

Caution : If you are feeling overwhelmed today please get prepared for more.

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