The generally accepted basic tenets of Social Computing are: 1) Innovation is moving from a top-down to bottom-up model 2) Value is shifting from ownership to experiences 3) Power is moving from institutions to communities

Consequently, it appears that the two-way Web is increasingly moving the power out of the hands of trusted institutions and into the hands of everyday users, who decide for themselves what products they should buy, whose information they should consume, what marketing they want.

[A] new social structure is emerging in which technology puts power in communities, not institutions. Forrester calls this evolution Social Computing. Sounds like Web 2.0, right? We think not. And here’s why: Web 2.0 is about specific technologies (blogs, podcasts, wikis, etc) that are relatively easy to adopt and master. Social Computing is about the new relationships and power structures that will result. Think of it another way: Web 2.0 is the building of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s; Social Computing is everything that resulted next (for better or worse): suburban sprawl, energy dependency, efficient commerce, Americans’ lust for cheap and easy travel.