Over the last week or so some of you may have seem my name in the media relating to a blogger challenge to TTC Chair, Adam Giambrone. The issue: improving the TTC's information website and increasing ridership. So far the Star, the Post, the Globe and Mail, the CBC and numerous blog sites have picked up on the story.

On New Year's eve I did something many would consider a simple task. I went to the TTC web site looking for a way to get from my house to the location of a New Year's eve party. Half an hour later I was no further ahead. It took a combination of searching the web and calling a help line to find out the subway and bus we needed to take. The next day on my other blog, Readingtoronto.com, I posted a challenge to Adam Giambrone. Would he listen to Toronto bloggers if they offered suggestions on how to improve the site?

To his credit he said yes. This is where the social-networking comes in. I asked my fellow Toronto bloggers to join in the challenge and we all asked our readers how they would improve the TTC way-finding system. The response was nothing less than remarkable. The comments poured in. Many are near-brilliant. This is what the "Wisdom of Crowds" is all about.

Our next step is to bring these suggestions - in a usable form - to city hall. Open source democracy? Maybe. Let's face it. Social-networking isn't only about connecting with your friends on MySpace, it is about coming together in communities of interest to make the world a little better. That is what Toronto bloggers have done. How many other seemingly intractable problems are waiting to yield to the onslaught of this technology? I think we'll all find out over the next decade or so.