There was a story last week about an iPhone app that the Obama team launched to help organise contacts in key swing states.  What it does is applies a system to your informal network of friends, to track who has been called, who they are supporting and whether they need a reminder on election day.

So what happens when you apply a formal system like this to a social relationship that is inherently informal?  It’s nothing new, sales professionals run systems to ensure that they never forget a prospects birthday, or that customer A likes squash whereas customer B prefers golf, but that is a commercial / professional relationship.  How would your friends feel being on the receiving end of your system?