Glacial Erratics

Is your posse on OrKut your orkutstra?    (2JJ)

Although of late it has become rather trendy to trash OrKut, and many of the criticism are valid, I think folks may be missing the point.    (2JK)

Many people joined the fray, had a frenzy of friend inviting, and then in the pause after the storm wondered: "what now?" The question hangs, "what can I do with an orkut?", as if the thing done already is not important.    (2JL)

The value of an OrKut or FriendSter system, as currently configured, is not in what you can do with it once you are set up, but in the signifying you do as you are setting up. You have to take a moment to concern yourself with your public persona. You have to scan your memory and your environment ("real" and "virtual") for the people to whom you want to say, "you matter, at least some, to me, today". A minor refactoring of the soul, a plough, perhaps of only superficial depth, through your heart and mind. And you get the experience of being selected by the others that are there.    (2JM)

Because of the limitations (as described, in this case by DanahBoyd) of OrKut, this potentially pretty good experience has the taint of high school upon it. Oh boy, look who is popular; what is the trick so I can be popular too?    (2JN)

danah's second criticism    (2JO)

points out an instance of the general problem with these systems: They are flat or close to, totally lacking in the complex multi-dimensionality necessary to adequately express the relationships one has with an individual and communities. An OrKut friends network is a graph of nodes and untyped links. Graphs where the links may be typed are better, more flexible graphs. Better still are graphs where the links are first class describable entities.    (2JQ)

Social networking tools are in their infancy, utilizing only the bare minimum of the potential present in hypertextuality. We may as well play in the kiddie pools and help bring the future about.    (2JR)