2.1. Deliberately Leave Things Incomplete

One of the key differences between designing a social environment online and designing a traditional media-style, broadcast-oriented content site is that the design of a social community online cannot be entirely predetermined. Or, rather, let me say that it should not be. The denizens of a social site must be given the opportunity to “finish” the design themselves.

This principle finds form in a number of familiar concepts: customization, skinning, user-contributed tags, and the emergent folksonomies they can give rise to.