Successful social sites are not just friend networks. They are built around objects that connect people with shared interests. For example, the object on Flickr is a photo, on Jaiku and Twitter it is a status update, and on YouTube it is a video.

But turning an idea into a shareable object is not always so simple. We’ll ask, what makes a good social object? For instance, Dopplr is built around trips that have 3 simple elements (two dates and a location) that can be used to make social connections. This talk will deconstruct the social objects and verbs on which well-known successes and exciting new startups are built on.

We will compare and contrast different approaches teams have taken to build social objects. Some examples are:

* music: Last.fm vs. Soundcloud
* products: Ebay vs. Thinglink
* trips: Tripit vs. Dopplr

The talk will conclude with a set of principles for building services around social objects.

***Note: This talk was recorded by Steffan Antonas (@steffanantonas on Twitter) at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, CA on 04/03/09.