The Evaporative Cooling Effect in Social Network : Networks Course blog for INFO 2040/CS 2850/Econ 2040/SOC 2090

The people who most want to meet people are the people who the least number of people want to meet. It is the ignorance of this fundamental principle that I see at the heart of so many failed social software designs.

There is the possibility of moving into adjacent warrens but it’s difficult to explore far outside of your zone. Plazas grow by becoming larger, warrens grow by adding more warrens.

Evaporative Cooling is a fundamental social dynamic and one that is corrosive to the long term health of communities.

Plazas are much more visible than warrens so it’s easier to watch and understand your community.

On the other hand, plazas only need to be started once and then they remain a hive of activity for new users to participate in from the first day.

Plazas and warrens both have their unique set of tradeoffs.

In the plaza design, there is a central plaza which is one contiguous space and every person’s interaction is seen by every other person.

Twitter is mostly a warren with the exception of trending topics which is the one plaza.

These are the two fundamental patterns of social spaces.