Makaveli2007 - 2:35 pm on Jan 4, 2010 (gmt 0)

I think social media will hurt search (no idea how much, though).

I think the online marketing/webmaster type of "social community" we're in is sort of a glimpse into the future of the internet (once people become more web-savvy...and social media rising).

I do not really need search to find the information I need in the field of online marketing as I'm so well-connected (so are most of you I assume), that I will usually do an internal site search on the websites I've learned to trust (and learned to understand that they offer a ton of valuable information)...as OddDog mentioned...

or I ask on one of the many forums I belong to, etc.

Of course, this could only become true for fields that have a community ... and not for the newbie segment of the market (you need to start somewhere, and search is the obvious place if youre not connected, yet)

Not saying search will die, of course...just that in certain segments search might become a bit less important and social media/WOM a bit more important.

And not sure if any field will be as extreme as the online marketing/web stuff community, in the foreseeable future....but you should get the idea:

When was the last time you did (had to do) a search in order to find information on online marketing or web-technology related stuff?