The Social Graph...shaping up to be the hot summer song of '08

So kind of like a World War Two bomber pilot flying over enemy territory (its really not that hostile of an intellectual process, its just the image that comes to mind), my limited mind is starting to really be aware of the flak and AAA fire being thrown up around the idea of the social graph. I guess this is only to be expected really. Since we have all bellied up to the social computing Kool-Aid and drunk deeply, it is only right that now we become interested in the kinds of data that can be extracted from these systems.

Dion Hinchcliffe, as per usual, has a good solid explanation of the social graph (and a lovely graphic). Think of it as the study of people and their connections. It is close to social network analysis but is more closely tied to graph theory - hence it's language of nodes and vertices.

There is already a conference, Graphing Social Patterns, Google has an API for it, Brad Fitzpatrick wrote a long article about his thoughts on the topic, even the great mind of Will Thalheimer has turned his attention toward things social and measurable. There are blog posts and reports on social software and even conference name badges that will help you track it.

This all ties into this broader trend I see of bringing the tools and techniques of things like anthrpology and ethnography into new spaces. On that front, there is The Anthropology & Design listserv.....PARC (which used to be Xerox PARC) also does ethnography....which they describe as "Using the systematic observation and analysis of people in their natural environments to glean insights of strategic relevance or interest"...and much more.

Keep the social graph on your radar (back to the bomber metaphor), it certainly warrants study and there are some amazing products starting to hit the market...check out iLink in this pub from SRI...this could be a game-changer within some organizations. Overall though...don't go too far on the first date...this is a promising area that is developing rapidly.