After few test on friendster or tribe, I have to admit that I don't like those social software. Why is that:1/ I have to log in other systems 2/ I have to subscribe 3/ My purpose is not to make friends but to find people who have the same interests.

Thus, the first social soft I use is my blogroll (where I put sites I read on a regular basis or people I am in contact with to talk about my research projects, my ideas and so on). The next step is to use google to find who cites me but is not always accurate. So the ultimate tool, for my use, today is definitely technorati ! I can see who I link, who links me and all that stuff is weighted thanks to a reputation system.

So as Red Herring asks 'what is the next google?', I would definitely say it's technorati !