It's search, Jim, but not as we know it

For some time now I've been aware that I never pick up the Yellow Pages. I've never advertised my business in it and I certainly don't use it. I always search the web - and I've heard the same thing from many other people.

But I was surprised to read on Robin Hamman's CyberSoc blog that he never uses Google, or any kind of web search, preferring to ask his contacts via Twitter, Facebook and social bookmarking sites. Is this the next step? Will search ever become as defunct at the Yellow Pages? I can't imagine it happening any time soon, but then again I suppose it's possible, if the social networking phenonemon ever achieves a critical mass.

But what if your friends don't know the answer, nor where to find it? It could be the blind leading the blind. It reminds me of the idea that in the future there will be no 'mass media', that we'll all read our own 'bespoke' newspapers, full of content we've elected to receive and nothing else. Customised, personalised, targeted. Although that sounds good from a marketing standpoint, it leaves me feeling a bit depressed if that's the way  all communication is going. No more serendipitous discoveries of things we previously knew nothing about, nothing to challenge our prejudices or ignorance.

Personally I think search is inherent to the web - whether it's using a search engine, searching within a site, searching for likeminds on Twitter, whatever ... we still haven't found what we're looking for.