Do You Know is a friend recommendation widget developed by the authors for use in IBM's internal social networking system. The authors developed DYK with a novel UI which they proposed would help make accurate and welcome connections. One of the major features of DYK is the extensive list of reasons why the person was recommended. They interviewed users after the testing period and one user response stuck out to me. They thought it should be more clear about what happens if you click 'No Thank You'. They might not click 'No' for someone if that person would be notified.
Thoughts
I think recommendation systems further separate our social worlds. There is already a sense of real life friends vs online friends. I think that is should be real life connections that start friendships. If you have enough in common with someone that they are recommended by software then you probably already know them and if you are not online friends already then theres probably a good reason.
I agree! I am so tired of Facebook telling me that I need to get in contact with a person that I only know because they happened to be a friend of a friend of a friend, and I haven't even met them in person.
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