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Wired for Thought: How the Brain is Shaping the Future of the Internet

by Jeffrey M. Stibel

Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Press, 2009

If you want to succeed on the Internet, forget trying to understand how the latest Web phenomenon works. Instead, you need to understand how the mind works. According to Jeffrey Stibel, the Internet is evolving into a brain—and the Web sites, communities, networks, and companies that leverage this insight will own the future.

A brain scientist and serial entrepreneur, Stibel has made an impressive career translating his knowledge of neuroscience into successful Internet ventures. In Wired for Thought, he takes readers on an exhilarating journey into the world of “neuron hunters” who are using their knowledge of the Internet’s brainlike powers to create online businesses.

Viewing Web sites as the “neural networks” of the Internet, Stibel describes how ideas live, die, and spread like genetic material across the Web, quickly transforming the Internet from a mere repository of information to a “prediction machine” that can recognize patterns and intuit meaning. Through intriguing examples from Google, MySpace, The Search Agency, and others, Wired for Thought shows how this evolution is playing out — and offers practical advice and compelling predictions for innovators, including:

• How online networks grow, and how to manage each stage
• What looming dangers threaten social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter
• Why the Internet won’t grow forever — and what will happen when it hits the wall How advancements in artificial intelligence will impact businesses and consumers
• Why an “intelligent” Internet is closer than you think — and what it will be able to do

Science and business are converging to create the future of the Internet. This eye-opening and authoritative book will help you avoid the pitfalls and embrace the opportunities of this exciting new world.

Jeffrey M. Stibel is a brain scientist and entrepreneur who has helped build numerous public and private companies. He is currently President of Web.com, a public company which helps entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses on the Web. Stibel was the recipient of a Brain and Behavior Fellowship while studying for his PhD at Brown. He serves on the boards of a number of private and public companies, as well as academic boards for Brown and Tufts University.