Wired for Thought

Shows how companies are using their understanding of the Internet's brain like powers to create competitive advantage - such as building more effective Web sites, predicting consumer behavior, leveraging social media, and creating a collective consciousness. A Bold Theory on How the Internet Will Evolve—and What It Will Mean for Business If you want to succeed on the Internet, forget trying to understand how the latest Web phenomenon works. Instead, you need to understand how the mind works. According to Jeffrey Stibel, the Internet is evolving into a brain—and the Web sites, communities, networks, and companies that leverage this insight will own the future. A brain scientist and serial entrepreneur, Stibel has made an impressive career translating his knowledge of neuroscience into successful Internet ventures. In Wired for Thought, he takes readers on an exhilarating journey into the world of “neuron hunters” who are using their knowledge of the Internet’s brainlike powers to create online businesses. Viewing Web sites as the “neural networks” of the Internet, Stibel describes how ideas live, die, and spread like genetic material across the Web, quickly transforming the Internet from a mere repository of information to a “prediction machine” that can recognize patterns and intuit meaning. Through intriguing examples from Google, MySpace, The Search Agency, and others, Wired for Thought shows how this evolution is playing out—and offers practical advice and compelling predictions for innovators, including: • How online networks grow, and how to manage each stage • What looming dangers threaten social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter • Why the Internet won’t grow forever—and what will happen when it hits the wall • How advancements in artificial…