I have a dream.

Technology is changing faster than our perception of technology is changing. Additionally, new technologies are beginning to be invented faster than we know what to DO with them! The World Wide Web is 20 years old, and we are even now seeing revolutionary phenomena like on-demand-TV, flashmobs, and political protest co-ordination in suppressed countries. And I believe that we are far from seeing the end of new utilizations of the Internet's capabilities. It's been said that a technology's full potential only becomes realized when it becomes universal, transparent, and boring.

One of the greatest advances in 21st Century is the utilization of technology already available: the social revolution that has resulted from Internet technology.

As the size of a social group increases linearly, the complexity of that group increases factorially. This is a big deal, because it means the overhead cost of co-ordination, management, and communication of very large groups in monumental. For nearly ALL OF HISTORY, people have dealt with this problem by using the hierarchy system: manageably sized groups are formed; then, each group is given a leader, which acts representatively for that group, as if the entire group were one simplified entity, one person. A group is then formed from these entities. This process can continue recursively.

Now, however, the overhead of organization is dwindling: user-based groups do not have to be efficient, they only have to be effective. Communication is almost limitless and free. Each person takes care of their own organizing overhead. In a parody of the words of Mr. King Jr., "I have a dream, that one day people will no longer will people be organized by the location of their homes, but by the content of their 'about me' box." That dream is today!

Reference: Shirky: Here Comes Everyone