Will you watch what I watch ?

Unlimited choice seems to be the defacto "nirvana" when it comes to any and all things video. We all want what we want, when we want it, how we want it, for free if at all possible.

The reality is that even though we may index everything and anything digital and use search engines thinking we truly have access to everything, that is far from the truth. Google users "choice" goes as far as their search algorithms take the first results page. Rare is the search that goes beyond the 1st page. Which is exactly why SEO is so important to so many

We don't hunt through pages and pages of Digg or any other "wisdom of the crowds" engine. in fact, I've begun to use Mahalo (disclosure, Im an investor) more and more simply because it has a real person extend options beyond the basic algorithm.

Advances in storage technology have taken us to the point where we can and do put everything and anything on a hard drive and then make it available online. The choices far exceed our capacity to consume.

So how will we find new stuff ? New entertainment choices ?

Will it be purely from friends on social networks ? Will we verticalize and go to movie and music sites (or any other interest we may have) and join their social networks ? Will we just continue to trust Google and search engine algorithms to get us "the most relevant:" options with a suggestion here or there? Will it be a combination of the two ala Mahalo ? Or will we find "trusted brands" to guide us.

I know that TV networks want to be brands that we look to for specific types of entertainment. Spike wants to be for boys, USA Networks is all about crime, etc, etc.

At HDNet we focus our content on Men, 25 plus. Those who have graduated for the most part from Spike and want a mix of smarter programming and presentation. From Dan Rather to Torchwood to our brand of MMA, HDNet FIghts. We try to go older and smarter than other networks. But how do we get more people to connect. How do movies get people out of the homes to connect ? How does any tv show, let alone a tv network. What about a book ?

Is Oprah the best model ? Is she really a social recommendation engine with an outreach network of millions ? She obviously is a brand trusted by millions, are there others that could be as powerful ? Do they require a hit TV show ? A website , a blog, a Youtube channel ? What is the inflection point of impact in terms of numbers ? Or could Facebook or Myspace pages truly turn into trusted recommendation points that actually lead to purchases on a repetitive basis ?

If Mark Cuban on Facebook lists my favorite magazines, books, movies, what have you, will anyone care ?

I just don't think that people searching and results based on algorithms or context is the future of advertising and marketing.. There is another answer out there, the question is "what is it "?