I was at Charles Forman’s talk yesterday at the Web2.0 New York Expo about game mechanics and how they drive engagingness/stickiness.  Charles knows what he’s talking about - He’s the founder of iminlikewithyou.com and has been programming games since he was like 5 months old. Drawing on his experience in Korea where gaming is more developed than the US, Charles asserted that folks like to play games to socialize with people who aren’t just their friends.  While traditional social networks right now are all about your friends and friend network, I think the future is the opportunity to find people who share your interests, tastes, points of view, etc but whom you have never met and never will.  A good recap of Charles talk by Mitch Wagner (click here)

Jay Adelson, founder of Digg, made a similar point during his keynote talk this morning.  He made a strong argument that the future of the web is not just about friend networks.  The big opportunity is using the collective wisdom to specifically get information interesting to YOU.  He said the folks who are your friends usually don’t share your exact interests - but there are LOTS of people out there you don’t know that do.  True in fashion, too, right?  I agree with these guys and it’s why we are working to create a fashion shopping engine where you can see top style of your fashion peers - not just your friends.