Why Social Bookmarking and Networking will lead to the next Google

If you are like me, you look at websites like Digg, delicious and Furl - and wonder why these sites are so popular? Don't get me wrong - I "get it". The idea of finding some cool websites, and sharing them with other users with shared interests makes sense. After all, this is what the Internet is all about - but if you step back and look at the bigger picture - you have to wonder ... what's next?

Well, I think I have a theory. The Internet is complex. The first wave of search engines organized the web in directories and keyword search engines - but as we all know - the Internet quickly made these search engines useless due to the vast amount of content, and the inability for an end user to easily find what they want in less than 2 seconds. Then came along Google - which presented a better way to "prioritize" content - based on links, to some degree content, and the credibility of the publisher. So is this the pinnacle of search - not even close.

The next wave of search is right in front of our eyes, but it is cloaked in "commodity and widgets". Social Bookmarking may be the first step in building the next great search engine. Let me explain.

First, the key element in social bookmarking is handing the "reigns" over to the end-user (you and me). It's not some algorithm a bunch of PhDs are building in a lab somewhere studying chaos theory - it is driven by society. Basically the web becomes self-reliant.... in essence it becomes an self-sustaining organism.

Is social bookmarking enough to unseat the king of search - Google. No. But its a good start. By creating a community of users that consistently rank web pages based on social interest and shared confirmation of the quality of content. Websites like Digg (http://www.digg.com/) let users vote on content, and websites like Delicious (http://de.licio.us/) let users bookmark websites, tag them with keywords and then match profiles of users to find other websites of similar interest and content. All of these models are a good start, but they do lack some ingredients to really build a Google 2.0.

For example - one ingredient is transparency. Some of these tools are a little clunky, and require one too many steps for a user to "bookmark" and tag a site. Ideally, this process can be simplified, and behind the scenes. Some sites have included a toolbar on the browser to make it easier, but I still find myself wanting more simplification.

Another ingredient is the profile. Its great that I have a "user profile", and my bookmarks are attached to my profile, and over time my "online personality" is formed through the websites I like and dislike, but my profile doesn't provide any color on who I am beyond what I surf. To really add dimension to my profile, these websites need to know more about me. Enter Social Networking. Social Networking sites are the masters of the profile. They collect a wide variety of information about each user, and leverage it to build and connect their communities. Combining robust user profiles of Social Networking sites and the behavior tracking of Social Bookmarking sites could add a dimension to search that brings true social conscience to the web.

For example, if I search "Football" on Google - the results are as expected - ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Football.com, etc. To some degree very academic, and to be honest boring. But, imagine if you added two more elements to the search engine - my behavior and my profile. For example, what if it returned websites I visited or bookmarked in the past, as well as looked at my profile and knew that I went to college at the University of Florida, and returned popular results for my alma matters football team. Now that is powerful. Personalized Search - novel idea.