Thank you Kindly Contributor Pierre Scalise.

These network diagrams provoke the question: What is the space that network diagrams reside in? I suppose the nodes are positioned relative to one another which means there must be many diagrammatic arrangements consistent with a data set, and that the inferences about social networks perhaps depend on the arrangment chosen.

Are social network diagrams somewhat like constellation (star-myth) maps? That is, self-referential and somewhat indeterminate.

More generally, in thinking about diagrams that show links, it is helpful early on to identify the space in which the linked nouns are placed.

See also the thread on analytical issues in causal diagrams: http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0000yO&topic_id=1&topic=

Nick, I'm thinking you might want to get into this, as its a chance to show off the social network visualizations for memestreams you did to Edward Tufte.