I spoke yesterday at Starting the Conversations and one of my new thoughts for me was on the access to the wisdom--not of crowds, but of individuals. My understanding of James Surowiecki meant in his brilliant book was that if you ask a large mass of people a question, such as "Guess the weight of a prize hog at a county fair," the answer you get from a broad section of smart and dumb people is often more accurate than what you get from a panel of experts.
Among the great new contacts I made yesterday was Earthlink' s Dan Greenfield who blogged about a hallway comment I made to him about the wisdom of cab drivers. It expanded upon a point I've often made in talks about to guys chatting over a backyard fence. Over time, they get to know what each other is expert on. One is sharp on local restaurants but is really lame on recommending movies. The other knows sports and the best vendors for home repair.
Each of us has more authority in some categories and less in others. My cab driver would be a good source for restaurant recommendations but probably a poor one on picking stocks.
Social media comes in because you get to know many more people and their respective areas of expertise on the Internet, than you possibly could in real life. I have come to realize the value of social media is more about the wisdom of individuals than it crowds, or so it seems to me.
