The current social media entrepreneurial spirit reminds me in some ways of the gold rush.
Except that instead of a commodity, it's the wealth derived from the distribution of information that is stake. It feels different from Silicon Valley speak in that the actually technology is less the talking point, replaced by the marketing involved.
Like the Gold Rush I think the long term effects will be auxiliary developments. Some examples of these in the Gold Rush were the sudden population growth of the west coast, Asian migration, and blue jeans.
