the intimacy thing is interesting. i bet people using social software expect, maybe without being aware of it, that they’ll be getting something “deeper” than the polished public surface of a known figure…so Harper’s coiffed and managed and closed kinda schtick would definitely be a deterrent. at least to a demographic not inclined to be his trusting fans. and i don’t know how popular he is with the slice of the population keen on social software…but i suspect that’s too simplistic a division.

what i wonder is whether “cool” factor matters too…that you can be detached or managed if what you’re projecting has cultural capital to your audience. Harper’s clearly done a good job getting out there on flickr and twitter…so is it that the people who voted for him aren’t out there themselves, that they just don’t care enough about him to watch his stuff, or that they don’t think anything interesting will reveal itself in that stuff?