I'm checking out the book Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. It's about social technology's impact on branding.
Check out Fastcompany's review here.
And from an interview with author Li, something I hope will happen sooner than later:
How will social networking look five years from now?
Instead of going to a certain place like Facebook or MySpace to be social with your friends, your friends will go to wherever you need them to be. If I'm reading a book review on Amazon, I'll be able to see my friends' reviews -- even if those reviews are written on a blog someplace else. There will definitely be platforms, but the key thing is they won't be walled gardens.