Why so much is being said about social media? You'll even see it being called web 2.0 because of the focus on the reinvention of the Internet. But what is it? 

Is about AJAX or cool effects in our internet browsers?

Yes. But no. Let me explain you with a recent story. 

More than 80 thousand users "dumped" more than 230 thousand "friends" in a non traditional advertising campaign. This campaign lasted only ten days and then was shut down. It is a fact, so the question is how can be possible that so many people in only ten days "dumped" so many "friends"? 

Well it was about the benefit of receiving a piece of a sort of meat between bread and caloric stuff. But they don't really dumped friends for real. They wanted the burger for real of course, but the campaign was not based in a social contract. At least not in a formal one. Just removing them from this social media site was enough to gain the benefit for real. How that was possible at all?

The answer in hidden in this word: simplicity. The campaign was created in one simple idea: dump 10 friends, win a burger. That simple idea taking lightly the concept of making "friends" proved to have potential for unmaking "friends". What else was needed?

Easiness to take action. The users are just a couple of clicks away from materializing the task. It was easy to "dump" ten "friends". Nobody needs a geek around to get that done. It is technically designed with AJAX and effects but that's the less interesting aspect. That's just the behind the scenes of what is needed to make the task more easy, appealing and fun while performing it. Socially it has no other value. So AJAX and effects are cool, are part of it but they are not the thing. 

Then what is it? 

Maybe you already got it because I've just said it. When talking about social media the real value is more social and less media. So there is no "thing" per se. Nothing was really invented. Only the medium has changed. The "thing" was already there for years. A poor Internet got better. It started to allow people to do some casual activities on it. People are the real valuable thing. People want to be connected. There is a gain on that. There is a gain in the share of their informal activities.

Need to say why that's important?

We are teamwork predators. Making an exception for Sheldon Cooper kind of creatures, we are informal creatures by nature. But if I have to tell you one reason then is our brain. Nature's masterpiece.

Then why not to take all this as a really big experiment?

When I've made this site I kind of knew that it will have more value in the content of what people say than any technical achievement per se. No crystal ball. Is just I like to think people are smart when they want to. Why made it? 

Brain's food: inspiration.

Not mine of course. People's one. But I need it myself. I'm curious about people's brains working on that field. If you are curious too, you can take a look and see if you can find some inspiration in what people says there. You can even participate and inspire yourself and others anonymously.

So the whole social media thing is a big hot experiment, can be used for lots of valuable actions and it definitively deserves attention. Do you feel comfortable with the idea of you in it?

If not, it could be because is exposing something you don't like in you. If you have problems with it you'll need to give a look in your offline self. Your online self will be just a pale reflection of what you are now. The source is within you. This reflection expands you. Do you scale?

It does not matter if you are a man or woman or you are running a business. Spend a thought on what to do with this. 

Technology is letting all of us with naked brains. 

Do you feel this brain striptease is a "threat" or a "sexy" thing?