You are who you know

The new social software turbo-charges friendships, sexual hookups and the business of human relationship -- and could turn our lives into an open book. Part 1 of a two-part series.

By Andrew Leonard - http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/06/15/social_software_one/index_np.html

June 15, 2004 | Marc Canter is a social networking addict. On the day I had lunch with him in a Chinese restaurant in downtown San Francisco, he boasted a whopping 558 "friends" on the Web service Orkut. For most people, that might be enough. But Canter wanted more. Not only more friends, but more friends of friends.

His situation was dire. In a prankish campaign for the dubious honor of most friendly man in cyberspace, he had recently lost ground to another highly connected Orkut superstar, the Japanese new-media maven Joi Ito.

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/06/15/social_software_one/index_np.html