Social Media is the latest trend in communication and media. Millions of people are now on sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. YouTube has become a daily destination for any person under the age of 35. Everyone who’s anyone knows that social media is the next big thing. Very few understand what that actually means, or what will happen after the hype, when social media is just part of the fabric of everyday life. At its most basic, social media provides a new way to filter information on the web. In the past, Google used computer-based programs that automatically searched websites. This information, cataloged and indexed, appeared in search results when Google determined it relevant. Social media creates a personalized, intuitive filter. Individual users choose what information is important to them and then decide what trusted, qualified sources they want filtering their information. These trusted sources come in the form of blogs or links posted from friends on social networks and twitter accounts. However, social media steps beyond being a filter through the creation of user-generated content. Individuals give opinions on what they like, through comments, but also through linking to pages over their blogs or sending the links to their friends on Facebook and Twitter. These unique, personal filters and user-generated content will change our understanding individuality, particularly how an individual relates to the world. There will no longer be the individual or the masses; it will be the mass of individuals. In this aggregate of the individuals, each person is able to make a judgment or voice their opinion based on what is happening in their own life. When five people do this, it is five people talking. When 5 million do this, greater trends emerge. So in the future, groups will not define individuals (be it African-American, Gay, Straight, ect.), individuals will create groups defined by aggregate thoughts of all the group’s participants. The early foundations of this new sense of individuality are found in current grassroots movements. Finding like-minded individuals and organizations is easier than ever. Movements and campaigns can be started instantly, by joining a group together of otherwise disparate individuals who would not normally be able to form around an idea (from location, or even different opinions on other issues). Individuals can be flexible and effective because of their ability to see what others who are important to them are doing in real time. A person gains information and is able to use it in their own life; their individual decisions based on information they receive creates the aggregate of individuals. Because the idea of social media is so new, problems have arisen from its use. Many still see a mass of people reacting to situations, instead of the aggregate of individuals. Social media without analysis just creates white noise. Large amounts of information often make it hard to find the best path forward. When there is a high volume of white noise, it creates a cycle of rushed decisions; it creates action without achievement. Just because a response can be made immediately, does not mean it has to be made immediately and it particularly does not mean it should be made immediately. It is the groups who learn how to analyze the user-generated data and create comprehensive plans of action that will see the greatest benefit from social media after the hype is gone.