Jyri Engeström has a great post about online social networks: Why some social network services work and others don't — Or: the case for object-centered sociality, which is via Russell Beattie's follow-up on why he left LinkedIn, which is discussed in Jyri's post.

The basic idea that I find interesting is the consideration of how one's links to others go through things (objects) like: events, places of work, types of occupation, etc.

When writing about social networks on this blog, I've suggested that I think that everyone should not only have their own social network site, but should have multiple sites. Another way to say that, in light of what Jyri is pointing to in sites that work (e.g., Flickr, Upcoming.org, etc.), is that I think each of us could use a site for each type of "object" around which we connect to others.

Essentially, services like Flickr do give us our own sites that serve this purpose. I don't just use Flickr, but I have a Flickr "site"—actually, several Flickr sites if I count my groups and tags, all of which create their own places through which I connect to networks of people.