annotations, two way links, social space

[Jim Clark <"LCQ \(a\)SMRH3.LA340%SMRH"@mcimail.com>]

I recently found interesting discussions of two-way hyperlinks, and
annotations to Web sites, at the addresses below.  I'd be interested to
hear the group's take.

http://www.muchmusic.com/muchmusic/cyberfax/annot.html

http://www.unrealities.com/web/backlink.htm

What particularly interested me is the briefly mentioned notion that
different linking configurations result in different social spaces.   I've long
been convinced that two-way links would make for a fundamentally
different type of "conversation" than HTML creates ...  but it's difficult to
articulate why.  Still, for me, that conviction is far more powerful than the
details of technical implementation -- it's the little flame from the lamp on
the "X" which keeps the whole thing burning, if you'll forgive a bad visual
analogy.  Put a different way, I would like to live in the world that results
from that kind of communication -- and a vision like that can be a more
compelling selling point than IETF debates.   (Sorry Andrew, I know that
work is important, but I can't see Jeanne D'Arc riling up an army about it. 
But changing the world's information space for the better?  Hey, I'm in.)   I
haven't read nearly as much as I'd like to about the social effects of a
different information-sharing paradigm.  

Best regards to all.  

Jim Clark, Los Angeles
jclark@smrh law office, jbc@xxxxxxxxxx social