Creating a graph of tastes – with due respect seems more like a 2 week project than a startup to me. All it takes is some rule mining algorithms, or to improve that, compute associations between multiple algorithms and choose better performing ones over time – and looks like you reveal the identities of people who do rank in some pseudonymous way.

Users don't create graphs, they interact and the software that tracks their interactions infers relationships that are by their very nature backward facing. Shaping the value of the interactions by calling them graphs or behaviours in reality provides value to the host or software vendor usually in order to justify fees to users or advertisers or both.

It's a simple trade, use of a platform for tracking you like a mouse in a maze until the data justifies the exit price.

The platforms have provided value though in Silicon Valley all software is a commodity including Hunch.

Software usually provides two forms of value, process acceleration and compliance and Hunch has some room to add more value in both of these areas. The open question however is whether Catherine's camera purchase works for me if I ask the same questions. I'd say probably not as my story, the processes that I need accelerating, my software, brand preferences and the way I measure must be different.

Here is a Semantic SEO map of the way people and Search Engine spiders view a few of Hunch's Twitter feed — Dog Food, Wine, Real Estate, Dating, Gay Marriage and Bread.

http://www.tinyurl.com/S5-Twitter-SEO-Rules-Hunch

As far as I can tell that is the focus of an advertising aggregator though I'm not sure if it's a bad Hunch?!

In my mind, this transfer would make sites like Hunch and Foursquare *more* monetizable. Network effects mean that if your service is competitive on its merits, rather just on the extent to which you can extract a monopoly on the social graph in your field, then your ability to extract value from the part of the network that you control is far greater.

Take, for example, SMS in the US. Before the carriers allowed their customers to text the customers on other networks, SMS was essentially zero-value. After they “federated”, the value of SMS was immense, particularly compared to costs.

There are plenty of other examples from the past, but it's worthwhile to perform thought experiments with an eye to the future. What does Foursquare look like when its graph is shared with Gowalla?

We all have a finite amount of time to participate with SM. “I'm the mayor of Bill's Deli” or “I'm in a taxi going west” works in A~B relationships, but the greater the “degrees of separation” the more Social media's output becomes spam to the viewer.

In A~B's “I'm at JFK” works. But if C is a road warrior, A gets SM fatigue with “I'm at MCO”, followed by “I'm at JFK” followed by “I've earned a new badge at the Mariott”. For A~C, 4sq is 88% SPAM.

Did I mention how little I look at tweets lately because of 4sp spam?

The Great Wall of Social Media is upon us.

i agree about twitter. it has become my primary source of news. and excellent point on people's associative behavior on local graphs. i never really looked at it that way, but it makes sense. i'd rather befriend a weirdo halfway around the world that one in my own back yard.

PS: Some segments of our customer base do not mind sharing our service for example we also tutor executives or professionals trying to build a specific skill like financial modeling, forecasting, etc and we notice that this segment does refer other friends or colleagues.

I do agree that it keeps getting cheaper and easier to collect and compute data about people.

What's neat about Hunch is you are collecting completely new data

Here are some new kinds of data we can collect now
- where you are (with check in or connected gps)
- what you say (email, text, tweet)
- what you read (browser, ebooks, email text)
- what you consider buying (browser)

Must be some cool “graphs” to come from that too