This is a fascinating post on social graphs, standards, and the big players like facebook, google, twitter.
"Social networks exist to sell you crap. The icky feeling you get when your friend starts to talk to you about Amway, or when you spot someone passing out business cards at a birthday party, is the entire driving force behind a site like Facebook."
great article, reck. and i agree with most of it. including the minimalist model of 4chan. i told you so... ;-)