The Social Graph is Neither (Pinboard Blog)

"Asking computer nerds to design social software is a little bit like hiring a Mormon bartender. Our industry abounds in people for whom social interaction has always been more of a puzzle to be reverse-engineered than a good time to be had, and the result is these vaguely Martian protocols..."

Thought-provoking and funny article on the failure of social networks to replicate or even closely resemble actual relationships between flesh and blood human beings. Relevant I think because the various social networking schemes are presently being hailed as the Big Thing - thinking which overlaps into the educational world - and the blogger, "maciej", correctly points out that even in the brief history of the net Big Things have already come and gone. 

Link:

http://blog.pinboard.in/2011/11/the_social_graph_is_neither/