There are also social features that allow readers to create their own profiles, earn badges for activity on the site or in the application, and interact with ot

There are also social features that allow readers to create their own profiles, earn badges for activity on the site or in the application, and interact with other readers. If characters in Snow Crash or Diamond Age were "earning badges" or tweeting, I'm pretty sure I would have put the book down. Why can't the "social" interactions take on a more mission-critical function?