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[Macro error: Can't evaluate the expression because the name "title" hasn't been defined.]  Monday, February 11, 2002  >> Group-forming networks Group-forming networks A few months ago, I wrote a column about the O'Reilly web services and P2P conference in Washington. In the column, I mentioned that Clay Shirky's keynote stressed how the value of group-forming networks (GFNs) rises even faster than what Metcalfe's law suggests. A reader (UserLand's John Robb, actually) wrote to point out that this exponential-growth property of GFNs was discovered and elaborated by David Reed, and is known as Reed's law. As I watch myself and others use Radio UserLand, and observe what's happening in the blogging world in general, it strikes me that some issues I raised in my book -- particularly about ways of creating overlapping scopes of collaboration -- remain unresolved. I conclude there remains an opportunity to define the requirements for a GFN, and create software that implements those requirements. I wonder what people would list as requirements for a GFN? Mine include: Ability for users (not administrators) to create multiple overlapping collaborative scopes. Scoped services -- e.g. partitioned search, referral analysis, ranking. An easily-adjustable boundary between public and private spaces. Ability to migrate content and discussion among partitions. Discussion.

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