Social Design Efficiency

Noah Brier:

“I’ve been wondering for a while when it became socially acceptable to meet people from the online world in meat space. Way beyond the small likemind and coffee morning gatherings are 40 million Americans engaging in online dating. Ten years ago if I told someone I was going to meet an online friend they’d have thought I was nuts, now they only think I’m a bit mad. That’s progress folks.

But why? What’s caused this change?

His subsequent discussion is interesting, and he asks a tough question: when is an activity (like online dating) too efficient for comfort?

This reminds me of the Facebook controversy. Social software is getting so efficient in some cases that it’s too efficient…and finding the right balance becomes the new challenge.