With every second that passes, and every byte of information added to it, the internet becomes a more remarkable but more chaotic resource.
It is like a human brain but without the intelligence to make sense of a rapidly growing array of electronic nodes and without the ability to turn its jumble of collected data into useful knowledge.
Social networks may become a pivotal tool in helping us come to grips with the challenge.
The social networking phenomenon is still in its infancy but there are dozens of putative networks out there helping people to stay in touch, find jobs, share information or just look for a date.
Most - like Tickle, Friendster, LinkedIn and Plaxo - have sprouted from the re-emergence of the dotcom venture capital in Silicon Valley. They have been joined recently by the big internet brands - Microsoft's MyWallop, Google's Orkut and Interactive Corp's Zerodegrees.
But while hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into these sites, many observers wonder about the point of it all. Friendster is a window on the world of the twenty-something, while LinkedIn helps you gauge how wealthy your friends might be. But in most cases you are just a passive observer, uploading and sharing the briefest snatches of information.