Check out the Google Wave - this is AWESOME stuff and when it comes out could transform your social media universe completely. You simply have to see the video (it’s a little long) to believe it - instant messaging that’s truly instant, collaboration in real-time… here is an abridged version of the unveiling -
The application UI is written using HTML 5 (canvas element, video element, geolocation, App Cache, etc) and will render in the mordern browsers. This of course implies Firefox 3.5, Google Chrome etc
The other reason why I think it’s so cool is that Google is borrowing a page from Microsoft and involving developers. The Google Waves are extensible and the communication protocol used is open source , there are APIs available for developers as well as a sandbox environment where developers can try out their code. You can even set-up your own Google Wave server - which is really cool when you start thinking of enterprises and the possibilities of collaboration there… It’s insane I tell you - the only catch is - it’s not available yet. It’s in private beta - you can sign up to be informed when it goes public - wonder when mere mortals like me can play with it.