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James Fowler, co-author of the book “Connected: The Surprising Power of Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives” dropped by The Colbert Report recently to promote his new book.

While the interview contained the usual Colbert grilling (I like how he threatened to turn the interview into 400 requests to play Mafia Wars), it did raise some interesting points about Social Networks and their abilities to influence our family and friends.

James Fowler on Colbert Nation

With your standard friends on Facebook, you actually assert little or no influence on them for things like music tastes, movies or brand interactions (and vice versa). This all changes if the person has uploaded and tagged a photo with you - these friends now exert the same amount of influence as close friends and family in the real world.

So if you are a brand trying to influence Facebook users, remember that your targets may be much smaller than you think - while a person my have hundreds of friends, unless they appear in photos with the person, you may be wasting your time.

I have recently been absolutely flawed by Umair Haque’s blog post on what he describes the “Generation M Manifesto”. While he has summed up everything much better than I would have been able to write myself, I will give a rundown on how important Social Media is in helping to institute this change.

The world is facing a great crisis, one that has been growing behind the scenes, and currently being manifested in a global economic meltdown. This has been built on the very worst parts of human nature, and our unfortunate ability to be very greedy, selfish people.

This crisis is now so ingrained in our institutions, they can be seen as nothing but failures. For years now the majority of businesses have been run without thinking about creating anything positive for the greater collective, creating a “Zombieconomy”. They have used aggressive, counter-productive practices that have benefited a handful of people in the short term, but slowly eroded away our society at large.

This is very much 20th Century thinking, and utterly flawed and outdated.

There is however a light at the end of the tunnel, being brought about by what Umair terms “Generation M” (although even he points out it may be an imperfect label).

Essentially the ‘M’ stands for four things - primarily ‘Movement’, but also ‘doing Meaningful stuff that Matters the Most‘ (again, check his blog post to see some great examples of new businesses and models that are the forerunners of this change). A call to arms for a new generation to re-educate the old guard on what we think really matters.

At the heart of this movement are the current new leaps in technology driven by the Internet. Social Media and communication tools are the driving force behind this new 21st Century thinking, and a collective desire to create an authentic and sustainably shared prosperity.

From bloggers in China and Tehran 2.0 spreading the seeds for democracy through the underground, to new online business models that offer an alternative to tired and stagnant forced consumerism, Social Media is providing a driving force of change. It is not just about giving a voice to the masses, it is providing a way for innovation and creativity to come back to the forefront of society, and help to institute good in the world again - a”rising tide that lifts all boats”.

That last term (and the word Manifesto) may actually cause a few eyebrows to raise, and a few voices to cry out “Communism!”. But in actual fact, the Generation M Manifesto is at its heart a true form of Capitalism, and not the corrupted and out of control beast we see today.

Generation M seek to re-institute value creation in the market. They seek to encourage healthy competition so that we can prevent stagnation and foster innovation. They want to be sustainable so that we don’t exploit people and the environment to make money. And they want to move from being sold a perceived value of a product or service to the creation of actual value in the goods and services we consume.

So what does this mean for us all now? Firstly, take a look at how you and your workplace emphasise creative ideas. The organisations that will flourish and survive will need to be prepared to allow this to be be the central driver in their business model - again, stagnation benefits no one and leads you down the path of failure. By fighting the future you will take two steps back.

Secondly, if you think new Social Media tools are just a current fad, I would recommend you re-think your analysis - not only are they here to stay, you will need to have a good grasp of them if you want to flourish in business in the future. Gone are the days of a one way conversation with your customers. Without proper engagement your business will sink.

If you have the time, take a break and check out Umair Haque’s presentation at the Daytona Sessions. In it he provides some interesting ideas for the future and 21st Century thinking.