also - comic sans is classic. i predict a comeback.
With those who know how to exploit the system for their benefit at the top of the power structure where they can remove any and all accountability, you have a self reinforcing greed loop.
THe people at the top aren't going to kill the system, when they can do insider trading with no transparency, and no risk. They get wealthy, and if going after the financial sector would ruin their position -- then hell no - they will die to protect it.
This is exactly what we are seeing. Oligarchy.
The world is farked in its current form. And as soon as the people get TOO upset, they will spark off a war to distract and kill off the complainers.
This is what the Iran issue is - it's the backup plan. If the economy fails further, or the OWS type protests turn violent to where they are a threat to the Oligarchy, US and israel will start war with Iran to get everyone to shut-up.
This hurts the whole social ecosystem on the web - cool apps can't get traction, new redundant networks end up springing up because people can't leverage the existing graph, and users are frankly scared. The really sad part is that these days they usually have nothing to be scared of - Facebook's permissioning system is so onerous that most developers have access to very little data and can do hardly anything without a user's explicit permission.
I wish there was a way for Facebook to redeem itself with regard to Connect, and to rebuild user trust. I am doubtful.
Great article! Reminds me of OkCupid and other dating sites - variable rewards (occasionally finding matches) and you have users coming back every single day.