Looking at my Facebook live feed today I see that my father, a few cousins, and a few other people have become fans of the Official Avatar Movie.  

If you are unfamiliar with Facebook, (I would suggest signing up, I've had more contact with friends and family than in the past 2 years without it. ) they show you when a friend becomes a fan of a page.  Then I am seeing my trusted friends and family praise the Avatar movie, "awesome",  "you have to see it at IMAX", "best movie I've ever seen", etc.  

I already wanted to see the movie, but now with these recommendations I decide to visit the fan page.  On the Official Avatar Movie fan page I am seeing thousands and thousands of likes, and comments.  Well being more curious I looked at the comments and found more of the same, "masterpiece!", "touching ending",  more "best movie I've ever seen".  

Now I can tell you my money is burning a hole in my pocket to go see this movie, and the next free night we have we are going to see it.  Now would I have watched this movie anyway?  Yes.  Would I have rushed out to see it as soon as possible?  Probably not, maybe would have rented it.  

Think about this.   You think about the power that Google has on the internet.  They are like a monopoly.  They are a giant, and unstoppable.  Or are they?   How powerful is Facebook to be able to take these  recommendations right into my life?  And they didn't even email me, or popup me, or banner ad me, or adword me.  I saw something that interested me, and followed it down the rabbit hole to the fan page.  I went there willing, not because I was shouted at to go.  My friends didn't specifically tell me to go to the page.  I went there willing.

I am thankful for Google, and they really have changed the internet, but do you really expect them to rule forever?  Doubtful.   Sure they will refine their analytics, and find you relevant content for your search, but that is not nearly the same as the word of mouth you get with social media.