Social Networks, market segmentation in real time

In a New York Times article dated October 31. called "computing 2016: What won't be possible?"

But with the rise of the Internet, social networks and technology networks are becoming inextricably linked, so that behavior in social networks can be tracked on a scale never before possible.

“We’re really witnessing a revolution in measurement,” Dr. Kleinberg said.

The new social-and-technology networks that can be studied include e-mail patterns, buying recommendations on commercial Web sites like Amazon, messages and postings on community sites like MySpace and Facebook, and the diffusion of news, opinions, fads, urban myths, products and services over the Internet. Why do some online communities thrive, while others decline and perish? What forces or characteristics determine success? Can they be captured in a computing algorithm?

Social networking research promises a rich trove for marketers and politicians, as well as sociologists, economists, anthropologists, psychologists and educators.

For marketers, this is fascinating. Some day, when we are able to see buying patterns in real time through social network analysis, marketing will be performed the same way as a weather forecast. The implications in politics is also amazing. I wonder why so few global companies actually invest part of their marketing and R&D budget in trying to understand those things. BP looks like a weird exception.