Which source of information do you trust more?

There is an interesting article in the latest edition of Wired magazine about the titanic battle that is being waged between Google and Facebook for the attention of you, the user.

The argument, as articulated by Facebook, is that Google will become irrelevant in the search business because its no longer about just finding things, but rather its about finding things based on the suggestions and common interests of those in your tribe of people. Thus, if you are traveling to Dallas, and want to know a good restaurant in Dallas, you will ask your friends and neighbors, not just query Google for ‘French restaurant Dallas’.

This idea is not all that new or revolutionary. Seth Godin has long posited the world view that information, in general, is much more valuable if it comes from a source you trust, rather than just the anonymous ether of the Web, and that the Web would be a better place if you were not allowed to be anonymous.

If you are on Facebook or a similar kind of site ( and really Facebook is getting to be the only site that matters, with one-fifth of the web having accounts there ) you are generally more free with your information because you have control over what is private vs. public. So, you post pictures of your kids, your opinions, and frequent updates about what is important to you. I have way more personal information on Facebook than I do on any of my public profiles, simply because I have some amount of ( perceived ) control.

I think the Facebook crew are generally correct. I had a friend of mine on Facebook who was traveling to NYC with his daughter. He posted a request on his wall for “Things to do in NYC with my 13 year old daughter.” Within 3 hours, he had probably 50 options for restaurants, sight-seeing, and shows, all recommended to him by people he knew he could trust, and that would have similar interests to his.

So, who do you trust more? The anonymous web or your social network?