I'm opposed to Dave Winer's proposal to chuck the term social graph and replace it with social network. The internet was conceived of as a tool for good, and a means for the education and edification of the public at large. It wasn't supposed to be an endless dripping pipe of pornography, drivelly blog postings, stolen music and banal choppy video. I'm sure we can all agree that bringing graph theory to the masses is a far more noble cause than endlessly surfing for Britney Spears' latest faux pas.
You know, understanding graph theory ought to be a pre-requisite for being allowed to use the internet. Prospective internet surfers could line up annually at the Department of Internet Licensing, solve the Seven Bridges problem (or some other equally trivial enumeration problem), and receive their photo-ID permitting them to use the Oracle of the W3C's creation for one more year. In fact, this such a good idea I think I'll go propagate this meme to a few edge nodes in my graph to see if I can get them to join the cause!
Besides, Dave, just between you and me… how bad can a thing be when it results in the shaming of Nick Carr?
[n.b. At least one person mistook the idea that we might have a "license to surf" as serious on my part. This is a humorous suggestion, and in actual fact I agree with Winer and Carr.]
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
