>Thanks to Jeremy Althof for bringing Paul Adams’ presentation to my attention via twitter. The presentation is a very useful overview of how social networks really work and is a rallying call for web designers to design for the complexities of social networks involving multiple groups (whereas most social networks on line assume one big group.) Paul has some really interesting analogies, such as trying to plan the seating chart at a wedding — that particular one resonates especially for me as I’m getting married in late August! He also cites a bunch of interesting examples about how our usable network is typically capped at about 150 people and beyond that it’s extremely weak ties. I also found his observation about overstating the power of “influencers” to be quite true — it would be so convenient if it were true that all we have to do is reach one force magnifier and go home, but alas, it’s much more complicated than that and influence tends to be diluted by multiple influencers. Anyway, check it out:
>The Real Life Social Network v2
Ethan McCarty 