Information Cascades seem to surround our everyday life. Think about what you’re doing right now, or what you’re wearing right now. Think about how you decided on your current car, or where you live, or even where to go to school. Many people evaluate all of their decisions with at least a minimal of consideration of what others think.

Within the topic of Network Effects, it is worthwhile to note that according to Alexa Web Search, six of the top ten most popular web sites in the US fall are contained by this category. These six, in their respective places, are 3 myspace 5 ebay 6 youtube, 7 facebook, 8 wikipedia, and 9 craigslist. The other four spots are held by Yahoo, Google, MSN and Microsoft Live respectively. Each and every one of the viral sites is useless if you are the sole contributor. They gain value through an increased user base. If I were the first facebook user, it would be in my best interest to recruit as many of my friends as possible so that I could interact with them. Likewise, they would then want to recruit their friends… and so on. During February of 2004, the majority of people probably hadn’t heard of facebook. Now, just slightly over three years later, the it is the seventh most trafficked site on the web and

An excellent example is the current ‘green’ movement going on across the US. It would be hard to pinpoint exactly who started the movement, or where it came about. Some might point to Al Gore, or his debut of An Inconvenient Truth, yet it could just as easily be blamed on global warming movie The Day After Tomorrow, or any other factors. Perhaps it was the release of the Prius, which proved saving the environment could (arguably) be economically viable. Regardless of what “The tipping point” was, so to speak, a new environmentally friendly mentally seems to pervade everyday life. So-called “Solar Homes” are all over the news. The onslaught of electric cars- The Zap Cars, GEM cars, and Tesla Motors is about to begin. “Green” Vehicles abound- Toyota has the Highlander, Camry, and Prius, while Chevy has the Concept Electric Volt, and a Tahoe Hybrid on the way. The list goes on and on…. but a simple glance demonstrates the explosion of hybrid technology in recent years. I have heard alternative energy described as the ‘new’ silicon valley boom.

I sure hope so. I can’t wait for my solar-powered house/car/jetpack.