Actual statistics are elusive, but in this Facebook user's opinion, the most popular applications on the social networking site have to do with some level of self-discovery. The current "25 Randoms Things About Me" activity, the virtual equivalent of some sort of human potential chain letter, has even the most 'mature' facebook users gushing their idiosyncratic views of life and living. This current craze, not to mention the ever-popular 'what colour is your personality' style pop-psych tests, seem to constitute a recycling of some tried and true 'Personal Growth' modalities of self-expression and peer-enforced vulnerability. Are we seeing an emerging genre of human development? See this Slate article for more insights about this phenomenon: http://www.slate.com/id/2211068 Certainly, most of these activities – like all of Facebook really – are distractions from the tasks at hand, tasks like working, eating, and raising families. But as far as distractions go, there is something compelling about these forays, however cutesy, into the realm of self-discovery. At the least, there is something here that should be getting our attention. The fact is, not only are people going to be spending more and more time online, but the online world is becoming more and more sophisticated. Insatiably curious and self-conscious people, coupled with increasingly intuitive and content-rich applications for self-discovery, means the Web is (among other things) a next frontier for the Personal Growth and Self-Help industry. This is not a new idea, and there are thousands of ways in which it is already happening. The question is how organizations will find ways to leverage this emerging crucible of personal development and learning. Clearly, granting one hour of otherwise billable time to play on Facebook is not the answer. But firm leaders would be wise to get hip to what's happening on the www, because their younger employees already are. In the emerging reality, maintaining the rigid corporate ‘firewall’ between ‘work’ activities and ‘personal’ activities may start to limit employees’ learning and quality of presence on the job. One possibility would be for companies to vet a number of online tools, applications, and/or personality tests that they think are at least somewhat sensible, and encourage employees to try them out, and compare notes. Encouraging a culture of self-development doesn't have to be entirely formalized, nor a big investment. Younger people will already be wasting hours online. Their (hopefully) wiser leaders could at least be offering some suggestions as to where that time could be spent. Of course, these same young employees are the ones who are most savvy about what is going on online. It is they who should be given the opportunity to teach their older colleagues. However the dialogue happens, it should be encouraged. Many organizations, because of the litigious corporate environment that we live in, are scrupulous about keeping personal web activities entirely outside the organizational walls. This may seem to be important for a number of reasons, but the day is coming when individuals will be so enmeshed in their online lives that forbidding all 'outside' online activities by decree will not only feel Draconian, but will cut employees off from themselves, reducing their energy and their capacity to be really engaged at work.