This is example what I was trying to describe. I imagined something so close to what I read in this article I just know that someday it must be built.
I found this site, which reads:
This paper proposes the creation of an Augmented Social Network (ASN) that would build identity and trust into the architecture of the Internet, in the public interest, in order to facilitate introductions between people who share affinities or complementary capabilities across social networks. The ASN has three main objectives: 1) To create an Internet-wide system that enables more efficient and effective knowledge sharing between people across institutional, geographic, and social boundaries; 2) To establish a form of persistent online identity that supports the public commons and the values of civil society; and, 3) To enhance the ability of citizens to form relationships and self-organize around shared interests in communities of practice in order to better engage in the process of democratic governance. In effect, the ASN proposes a form of "online citizenship" for the Information Age.
This idea is fleshed out very well in their paper, which I think has spawned
this site. It appears to be last updated in July 2004, so it is pretty much dead. It seems like there were a lot of good ideas here that should be resurrected and discussed. It sounds like a pretty grand idea:
Most importantly, the ASN will not "break down the walls" between online social networks to create a single, global online community... The objective is not a single, massive social network, but a multitude of interlocking independent communities. Such a system would not threaten the cohesive nature of a thriving online social network; rather, it should enhance it.
I've been posting and ranting with all my diary entries here at dailykos topics like these, its been a good atmosphere to refine my thoughts. I would like to build an a social network, but I really don't know how to program/build that shit. I haven't found a good site to recruit people to my causes! I joined Bloggers United, but no one there responded. I also joined 2 or 3 other social networking sites, but really haven't found an audience as responsive as dailykos.
There should be a better way to get a dedicated group of people together to make something happen.
What happened to the people who wrote these articles? They still talking about this?
I think now is the time to start the biggest open source project ever undertaken and build a central social networking system such as this one. If it is not done by the open source community, the gap would be overtaken by corporate interests, a myspace_world_wide. I may gladly use a product like that, but I think the element of a completely free open source style system would ensure that no CEOs are in the proximity of our information flow.
Thoughts?