via David Weinberger, Zephoria has an insightful post about why profile-based conversation is wierd:
Reacting to a profile is just 10x more socially odd than small talk. And unfortunately, the profile itself takes away one’s ability to engage with the standard “what do we have in common” questions. Thus, the lurker gets that far and then they have to find something meaningful to say without the ice breaker. Given this, it’s such a miracle that profile-based dating ever works.
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More than that, even Friendster degree-of-separation introductions lack the artfulness of a good party introduction, where the host can meet two people, spark a conversation about a topic they have in common, and slide away.
Blog-browsing and commenting feels like a more natural way of making an introduction. Not only do you know that someone is interested “politics”, you have an idea of how.