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Craigslist does serve as a platform where people help each other for the basics, and also, shows people that the Internet is good for mutual support. I do feel pretty good about that.

Craigslist is about authenticity. Craig has paid his dues, and people respect him.

Craigslist is not only gigantic in scale and totally resistant to business cooperation, it is also mostly free.

Sometimes entire categories of craigslist are rendered nearly unusable by spam. Con artists prowl the listings, paying sellers with fake cashier's checks and luring buyers to share their credit card numbers.

Social media is here to stay, and the social phenomenon that is bringing this about is consumers' willingness to share more about themselves, share more about what they're doing... people are even willing to disclose where they're at. And this phenomenon is going to create huge commerce opportunities on the web.

Social media has shaken up the world of sales, with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter offering new ways to hound leads and unprecedented insights into clients.

The social-media landscape changes incredibly fast, so you have to be open-minded and nimble to keep up with it.

I'm not saying the whole world will work this way, but with Airbnb, people are sleeping in other people's homes and other people's beds. So there's a level of trust necessary to participate that's different from an eBay or Facebook.

The advent of Google+ and the emergence of the personalized web means this is more true than ever. Brands, and their advertising partners, must wake up to this challenge and define themselves with clarity, consistency and authenticity. Otherwise they just might find themselves shouting in a ghost town.

With the growing reliance on social media, we no longer search for news, or the products and services we wish to buy. Instead they are being pushed to us by friends, acquaintances and business colleagues.