"If people shift from search to sharing as the primary means to find information, then Google needs to figure out how to tap into social, and fast."

Ah, but how are people going to _find_ this information in the first place? Links don't just grow out of a vacuum. Someone searched for it _then_ curated it.

And, really, if Google wants to own the _future_ of consumer "information sharing" in this era, they don't have to become a lumbering Facebook me-too clone. Just buy Twitter (be ready to pay a soul-crushingly high premium for them, though). Boom, they'll now have 4 of the top 10 global Alexa ranked sites (after Google, Youtube, and Blogger). Integrate them all with some non-trivial alchemy, and you'll rule the Internet.