By Scott Luther & Sarah Allen

Social media is often referred to as a stream, with a constant flow of status updates, tweets, check-ins and shared links being pushed out in real time. But no longer is “stream” the appropriate metaphor. As friend counts, the number of social networks that we are tuned in to and the volume of content our network is sharing grows, the amount of content we are expected to monitor has grown into a roaring deluge of information.

Mirroring the explosive growth of sharing is the growth in ways we access this flow of stories. Social media has now invaded every facet of our daily lives. But life is more than the sum of its tweets. People have signaled that they are not willing to surrender to the overwhelming flood of social obligations. Most people find it beyond them to abandon social media entirely, to turn off their easy access to their circle of digital intimates.

This brings us to a subtle balance between the fear of missing out – the fear of being uninformed, uninvited or left out – and the threat of social fatigue. Combatting this strenuous position is the rise of digital tools meant to tame the stream and highlight that which truly matters.

Rather than allow their hard-won users to disengage, the networks themselves are building tools to make their services more manageable. They are creating tools that mimic offline social dynamics. Google+ Circles and Facebook smart lists filter the flow to highlight certain groups that we know we want to pay attention to. The goal of these new tools is to add context to our connections, and by filtering these stories from the stream, they raise their visibility for a longer period of time.

It works when users consume information directly from their social platforms, but social has become a layer of context throughout our web experience. As web APIs pull information from social networks to influence everything from restaurant recommendations to where you should take your next vacation, a substantial user complaint is that the preferences assigned to our profiles are not representative of our real-life network. Social networks have largely been unable to push the assigned value of a connection – either strength of personal connection or perception of a connection’s expertise – to the social layer outside their platforms.

As adoption of filtering tools increases among users, though, expect social networks to find ways for their APIs to learn from this new data and create even greater personalization. As this information becomes available, we should think about how our brands can use data to appropriately improve their mobile, Web and physical experiences.

Filtering and paring down what is shared with us on a daily basis help limit our connections’ activity to a manageable level. The next challenge in taming the stream is assigning relevance to content shared by people outside those specified circles. One way this problem is being addressed is by attaching weight to stories affecting our collective consciousness, events that are sparking interest among a number of people whose opinions we have signaled as valuable. A great example of a service addressing this challenge is Percolate, a tool that combines Twitter feeds, RSS readers and Tumblr feeds to surface the content that multiple connections choose to share.

Several social platforms have also attempted to address this with native tools. The Facebook “Talking About This” and Google “What’s Hot” topic clusters ensure that major events are not missed, similar to the long-standing Twitter Trending Topics sidebar, and draw attention to topics that have affected multiple connections.

These tools aim to solve one of social media’s – and the Web’s in general – greatest challenges: assigning relevance to topics that users have not indicated they care about. For brands wanting to break through the clutter, the most important part of the solutions to understand is how these tools are able to introduce people to new experiences and perspectives. With this understanding, brands can identify means of reaching new audiences.

A final class of tools rising to stem the flow of social content being pushed to us on a daily basis is the social magazine. Social magazines are services pulling in the best from our various networks to build personalized periodicals for each user. The first and best example of this service is Flipboard, which combines Facebook, Twitter and external news sources to provide each user with a collection of stories that are most relevant to them.

Many others have attempted to bring value to this space, from CNN’s Zite, Yahoo!’s Livestand or News.me to personalized news services like Pulse and Flud.

While these services are positioned closer to traditional media platforms, all have incorporated a social element, choosing to highlight the content shared from a user’s networks as a way to provide a more relevant experience each time that user checks in.

Apart from providing a collection of recommended content, the primary benefit of these tools is that they pick items out of the stream and allow people to take part in their social activity when it best suits them. Like the DVR, TiVo and online video have accomplished for television, so, too, will stream filters and social magazines allow users to engage with social media on their own schedule and on their chosen device.

Over the next year, we will see the maturation of these tools, first by improving the content that is pulled in from each of our social networks and news sources, and also by learning what content we appreciate beyond what has been shared by our network. This behavior is what will make these services most valuable, learning what a user wants and also learning how to suggest new topics to broaden a user’s perspective.

In 2012, brands will earn attention by telling interesting stories and by building experiences with social context. Brands need to become as much a part of the fabric of social media as people. Plan for experiences that move beyond your brand’s website or page. Craft social stories that are meant to be shared, not just with your brand’s immediate connections, but also into the second circle.

Breaking through will require brands to understand how content is being filtered, both electronically and by content curators, and to position their social presences around their brand’s promise. Successful brands will also think about which groups they want to be associated with: for some it will be the savvy shopping group, for others, entertainment and pure fun, while some may anchor new groups being created around the brand. Another approach will focus on creating utility for a brand’s connections, either by acting as the experts in their category and taking on the role of curator for their followers or by leveraging the vast amount of data available through social networks to create more personalized experiences for their customers.

Lastly, we expect to see brands begin to understand how sharing has changed word of mouth amid this deluge of status updates and tweets. Participating in social media requires building engagement beyond status updates, extending your brand’s promise into each digital touchpoint to create experiences your fans will discover and share on their own. Brands that take this approach are embracing the community aspect of social media and building campaign-agnostic presences to engage with fans in the long-term.