] The basic shape is simple - in any system sorted by rank,
] the value for the Nth position will be 1/N. For whatever
] is being ranked -- income, links, traffic -- the value of
] second place will be half that of first place, and tenth
] place will be one-tenth of first place. (There are other,
] more complex formulae that make the slope more or less
] extreme, but they all relate to this curve.) We've seen
] this shape in many systems. What've we've been lacking,
] until recently, is a theory to go with these observed
] patterns.

This same pattern is present in the MemeStreams community.

Several weeks ago, I posted up some of Rattle's proof of concept work (http://www.memestreams.net/visual.html) in this area. Since that time, he's been working on code to produce detailed statistics and enable visual navigation of the social network present on MemeStreams. Its cool. You are all going to love it. :)

Shirky: Power Laws, Weblogs, and Inequality