FROM THE GEEK:

“A distributed social network traditionally refers to an Internet social network that is decentralized and distributed across different providers, with emphasis on portability and interoperability.” --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_social_network

TRANSLATED FROM THE GEEK:

Dude walks into a bar and orders a draft. Bartender says, “Hey, Joe, how you doin'?” Dude asks how the bartender knows him, and the bartender replies, “Your friends from Bob's Pub on 52^nd come in here all the time. You want me to let the guys at the office know you're here?” “Uh, no, thanks.” Joe replies. “No problem, Joe.” says the bartender, “Here, try this new draft we have on tap - your buddy Pete raved about it!”

Most sites that allow you to share information, post comments, review stuff, etc., require you to log in to do so. These sites may already know who you are when you get there if you are already logged in somewhere else like Facebook or Google, or have what is called a universal ID like OpenID.

Say you are visiting a site that supports distributed social networking. If you have an OpenID, the site already knows certain things about you – things you allow any site to know about you, like your name or email address. You can then share the site or site content with other people in your network. You can also see how other people within your network have interacted with the site by reading their reviews, comments, and so forth – just as they will be able to see how you have interacted if they visit the same site later on.

--DeGeek