AUTHOR'S NOTE: Last fall I wrote a post about what I called "Micro-networks". I've been doing a lot of thinking about the evolution of online communities since then, and this post is an updated revision of the idea.

The next significant evolution in the way communities form online is well under way, and it's clear that the focus is on settings: social behavior based not on an ever-growing social graph, but on shared interests and actions at a certain moment in time. (Jason Schwartz calls this the rise of a "social circle" era, but I prefer to talk about "social settings". But I'm not arguing semantics here.)

A "social setting" is any website or app that connects you to other people because you are all doing the same thing right now, in the same place. Yobongo, WatchParty, Planely, ASpaceApart, Hurricane Party, Color, Path and Matchbook are all examples. (Please email me if you'd like to add others to the list.)

There are several reasons why social settings are becoming more prominent. One major reason is social network fatigue. People have begun to recognize that many of the "updates" they receive are valueless, and that the larger their social graph becomes the less value they get from it. That doesn't mean Facebook and Twitter are doomed - they will most likely continue to dominate online social connectivity, but there's no doubt that people are looking for ways to connect socially in spontaneous ways that don't require permanent friending or following.

Another reason social settings are on the rise is the advancing capablilty of mobile technology. Being online is no longer antithetical to being outside, now that smartphones and tablets have eliminated the boundaries between your actual, physical setting (a coffee shop, concert, or neighborhood) and the virtual world of social connections (Facebook and Twitter). Where you are and what you're doing right now need never be separate from your online life.

This change in online communities has profound implications for businesses and consumers. They make it possible, for example, for the neighborhood coffee shop to offer specials to customers when the customers are in the immediate area or even in the shop, with the potential to turn a $5 purchase into a $10 purchase every time a customer walks in the door. Consumers, on the other hand, will have many more choices offered to them. Just as online content is served based on a user's clicks, mobile content can be served based on a where a person is and what he or she is doing.

I predict that over the next 12-24 months we'll be hearing a great deal more about social settings (or social circles), but that may be self-fulfilling. I'm moderating a panel on the subject at TechWeek in Chicago this July, and will be posting more on this topic over the next several weeks.

Last Sunday on our way to my daughter's soccer game I gave her some last minute coaching. I said, "Don't run to where the ball is, run to where it's going. Otherwise you'll just keep chasing it and never catch it."

Later that day I was catching up on some reading and I saw that Mark Suster had just posted Skate Where the Puck is Going. Not only did he say essentially the same thing (yes, Wayne Gretzky said it first), he even talked about how the idea of "check-ins for TV, with badges" isn't really innovation, something we've been saying at WatchParty since the beginning.

Suster talked about how the latest buzzwords always get put into pitches and plans - in other words, playing to the puck at one's feet - without any thought to truly innovating - playing to where the puck is going. Since I spend so much time thinking about where the puck will be, I thought I would share some of those thoughts.

I'll start with social networking; specifically Facebook and Twitter. Right now their limitations are beginning to show, and can be stated simply: TOO MUCH.

Having hundreds of friends on Facebook and following hundreds of people on Twitter was great, but for most of us it's simply become too much to handle. We have to sift through too many updates to find relevant information in the midst of what is, frankly, a whole bunch of garbage. Facebook and Twitter both recognize the problem; Facebook added groups and Twitter added lists to help people manage the information, and both have plans to add more features that address information overload.

Even with new features, the core problem will continue to exist: Both Facebook and Twitter want you to form essentially permanent connections with other people. That's fine for people you actually care about, but it creates problems around privacy and too much personal information when most of your connections are really just acquaintances. These tools, great as they are, force users to be cautious about using them.

The potential for The Next Big Thing has opened up.

The Next Big Thing, in my opinion, will be social networks that allow participants to interact with one another without requiring them to commit to being permanently connected. I call them micro-networks.

Micro-networks are rapidly-formed networks that spring into existence in response to a specific catalyst, and which dissolve as soon as the catalyst is removed. They exist everywhere in nature, from the large numbers of normally solitary bears who gather to feast during salmon runs to the small group of strangers who suddenly feel close to one another because they witnessed the same unusual or traumatic event.

There are a number of companies flirting with this already. Ning isn't too far off by letting you set up your own social network around some specific identity, but it's not quite micro-networking - yet. The Social Collective builds social networks around conferences - true micro-networks in that they are networks that are formed temporarily around a specific catalyst. WatchParty is building a platform for micro-networks formed around specific TV events. I know others who are building micro-networking platforms around the bar scene, sporting events from high school to professional leagues, and festivals. One very interesting component of this is the fact that mobile technology makes the formation of online micro-networks extremely easy.

I may be wrong. But I may be right. We'll know in a few more years. But I'm willing to bet my future (in fact I already am) that in a couple of years the Web is going to see an explosion of platforms that let people come together and interact for a short period of time around a specific topic or event, and then let them all peacefully go their separate ways.