Here's some bloody good ideas about social networks from Quinn.
i've long wanted to be able to search my friend's brains, which is the kind of social networking that matters. there's no technical reason i can't, just no one has built me the app. i still haven't figured out the solution to the socially awkward "actually, you're not my friend, why are you saying you are?" problem, which is why i quit orkut. but maybe you can raise the value of the app so that people will put up with that, and maybe its ok to say "actually i share some pretty intimate stuff, so my circle is kind of tight." as a reply- i don't know. the point is, people will put up with problems in proportion to the value they derive from a system. right now orkut and friendster and the like are mostly fun for people that really enjoy filling out webforms and uploading pictures of themselves. and maybe as dating sites, but as i don't really date i don't know. for useful social networking being in my social network has to mean more than being out of it.
