"Socialommerce"

Just came across this article, which has some really interesting points about the intersection of ecommerce and the social networking craze.

"Social Media and Online Commerce: Birth of Socialommerce"
http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3628497

This is the first time that I've come across this particular team (made up of "social" + "commerce"), but the general theory hold true: you'll trust your recommendations from your peers, and more and more will look to this information to drive decisions in your life.

The article's focus on Google's interest in buying Bebo (owns 65% of social networking market in the UK) is okay, but it's really the theory behind how these forces are changing our buying patterns that are far more interesting.

Here's a quick excerpt:
"Nielsen reports 78 percent of people trust their peers' opinions. This is neither a new concept, nor new to the Web (e.g., epinions.com).
What is new: social networks make so much easier to disseminate the information. And people want to disseminate information."

But consider that the dynamic with peer reviews is not just go-to-Amazon-and-get-the-highest-rated-MP3-player. It's also about making lifestyle choices, which is where the real power comes in.

Now you can look to these networks to answer bigger questions like:

What should I spend my tax refund on?
Where should we go for vacation this year?
What's the most fuel-efficient hybrid out there?
What's the best school I can put my kids into?

We're a classic case; the new school that we chose for our daughter was decided in large part due to GreatSchools.net, which profiles schools in the US based on statistical data (test scores) and layers in personal reviews (from others that have attended or currently attend). Granted it's not apparent who these people are that have put in these ratings, but at this stage it's a great barometer for the feedback out there (and again, was a critical tool for us in making the decision where to settle).

Consider also that one of the biggest vendors out there providing rating and review capabilities Bazaarvoice (powering reviews for Walmart, Best Buy, and Office Depot) also enables you to syndicate your review to sites like Facebook, you can see how these companies are looking to increase the power of a user review by syndicating it out to these far more powerful newtorks.

It's not just a question of what you thought of a product, but how to get your review to as many people as you can. And then it's a question of how to find that info, which I suppose is where Google fits in.

The times, they are a-changing!