Social Networking

Quite the new craze. And rightfully so, as it closely relates to human behavior in the real world. We like to use networking to find people we trust. Ultimately, that is what it's all about: trust. And there are levels and degrees of trust. The best level is a referral by someone your trust very well. You are very likely to trust the person they referred as well. This is "word of mouth" referral translated to the internet. It is brilliant and it is here to stay.

http://blog.fastcompany.com/archives/2004/03/16/what_the_heck_is_social_networking.html