Things I wish Buzz and other social networking systems did when someone starts following me

Google Buzz links up with Google Reader, more or less.  I use Google Reader twice a day. The main effect that Buzz has on my experience is that each morning there are a handful of people in the "people have started sharing with you" item.  Which I then open, and do not recognize them, and so close the tab back without following them back.

Just displaying a name or handle and maybe a cute picon is not sufficient.  Some people have this wonderful memory for names and faces, but some of us are not so much.

When J Random Person starts following me, Buzz & Reader should display to me some more context about that person.  For example, that person could have 140 characters of self description, plus 140 characters of "why I want to follow you".  With no URLs or any "rich content" allowed.  The reason to keep it short and simple is to reduce the exposure surface for spamming.

Most instant message systems have the provision of sending a "Why you should add me to your roster" when making a connection request.  Facebook does this as well.

And something that would be amazingly useful is, if I am following anyone who is following that person, show that to me.  If someone I interested enough in to follow already thinks that someone is interesting enough to follow, I am more likely to decide to as well.

Most instant message systems have the provision of sending a "Why you should add me to your roster" when making a connection request.  Facebook does this as well.

I am more likely to approve and/or follow someone back after a connection request if I am shown some additional context, especially how they already are linked into my extended social graph.  I don't want to have to take the time to do various graph network search tools to figure it out.

Just displaying a name or handle and maybe a cute picon is not sufficient.  Some people have this wonderful memory for names and faces, but some of us are not so much.