I responded to the Portsmouth Freecycle ad "free Real Simple mags." A few days later, I picked up 10 issues from the front of someone's garage. Great story about reusing and community, right? No, its a story of lies and deceit. I was not picking up the magazines for "my wife." I wanted them for myself.
I spent yesterday evening at a "Speed Venturing" event. Entrepreneurs got 12 minutes to pitch their business to potential investors. Most chaffed at the time constraint, especially when the 'winners' had to summarize their business in 1 minute. Hearing their stories during the un-timed networking, I could tell why: most were technologists and engineers that had really cool concepts. They innovated around some really hard constraints and the results were worth talking about. Most could talk for a half hour without even getting started.
My original one-line review of Neil Postman's book Technopoly was: If you have a computer or a phone, or have ever used one, read this book.
Communication starts with telling good stories. Stories start with characters.
The technophiles are asking: what will people use Google Wave for? What does it do best? What will it do to email and chat? Will it flop?
I read this Wall Street Journal article per the recommendation of @actonmba. The author chronicles the strategies small businesses use in social networking: from paying consultants to do it for you--to getting training--to doing it on your own. As a consultant working on these projects, I like the article's conclusion: use social networking in a way that works for your needs.
And the books I read come to you via the blog once again...