Well, in BE we don't have advisors anymore. I feel that this feature is a reflection of different factions of mankind working together and not against each others anymore.
It feels throughout the game in different ways. Most of you may notice that with the way less aggressive AI. Factions are more willing to cooperate and some seem to have learned from the Great Mistake while others haven't.
I like the social media concept. It's new and dedusting (Civ needs that to some extent imo). It also fits our time. CivBEs dev team is pretty young as well. So, this might have something to do with it, too.
It's probably also an attempt to find a younger audience. Some kids might grab the game and like what they see. The same way I liked Civ 1 when I was 12 years old.
Civilization is a classic. There's not much room for drastic changes. It might scorn the fans. In BE however, there's room for such little and funny things. If they get accepted, they might get enhanced and find a way in other games.
In a new classic Civ game, I'd like to see a changing society. Esp. when it comes to the Internet and Communication. A more fleshed out version of this, could be really interesting. Social media is intertwined with politics and the development of social aspects of a society could be perfectly reflected this way.
Personally, I'd change the system a bit. While it's fine that leaders comment on my management, I'd like to have a better connection to my colony. My people have little ways to contact me - besides quests. They should be more involved in my decision making processes.
As it now is, I'm pretty much an autocrat/dictator. I think the future may hold more forms of societies ready than this one, though.
Besides of all that, I really like the way the game is going.
