I’ve been running around, I guess for the past month or so, asking some of the social media kids what they think of certain trends in social media.. it’s been a bit of a thing for me.. and as near as I can tell.. nearly all the social media folks I know are, on one level or another, skeptics..

Of course there’s group think, and of course there’s.. social media that isn’t so red hot.. and then there’s the stuff that really really rocks.. and there’s the questions of where it’s all leading.. the good and the bad and.. the what have yours..

I’ve been hearing people talking about social media going main stream, and people telling me its over hyped, and now I hear of the MIT cover.. but I don’t know.. For one thing, most folks still don’t actually know what social media is… and of those who do, sophistication varies… which has many implications.. in any event.. I still think we are in very early days.. days that are too early to call bubble days.,, even if there is something that resembles a bubble that we are in.

Basically.. there’s a principle of social cohesion.. that when a group of folks of similar ilk get together.. the similarities sorta.. become more so.. and this is a primary component to group think.. which is something we surely have as a part of the social media fish bowl. For this reason, now more then ever, I feel as if what social media really needs is divergent thinking.

The trouble is.. that it still seems like the social economic’s of the situation is.. well the homeless aren’t the early adopters, put it that way…. and still.. having a certain amount of geek super powers is a very important thing to functioning effectively inside of a social media context.. so there’s certainly systemic factors that lead to the fish bowl bubble like quality of things..

I had a conversation with someone somewhere.. I think about twitter.. and the life cycle of web apps, and what have you.. how much it costs to go from nothing to early adopters.. and then how the really expensive part is how to reach the main stream.. which points to this huge gap between early adopters and the main stream.. social media dwellers and the main stream.. I’m not sure that I totally buy into what they were saying but…

Out side of all this, I do sorta feel like if you look at many of the fundamentals of social media.. on any number of levels.. I feel that there is more there there then even the.. well the really drunk on social media punch are seeing. I actually think the group think gets in the way of seeing it.. I think that the reality of the true potential.. and the reality of what people are talking about.. are two very different things..

Most of us, since we were very little children.. were sorta taught to.. kinda sorta.. follow the leader.. the thought leader.. whatever authority said we were supposed to do.. its not a real comfortable thing for us to leave the well trotted paths.. and yet.. its really only in the risks of other paths.. where the real magic is to be found..

So I guess where I come down on all this is to say.. yes there is a bubble.. but it is the bubble of the consciousness of a certain group inside of social media.. and that bubble will likely pop.. or.. have some growing pains.. or whatever.. but that there is something real and substantial.. and perhaps awe inspiring.. beneath our feet.. which is no bubble at all.