“The Mesh” is mostly about physical (owned) objects that get shared. Social objects are objects that act as social “glue” between people.
I see the start of really powerful experiences when these two things are brought together. In Lisa Gansky’s book she gives that example of the Zip Car named “Mini Mucho” which is a example of a mesh object that is also a social object.
Social Object transformed into Mesh
Look at how social objects can be transformed into mesh objects (through time-sharing, such as a pet dog that gets rotated around a couple different families). What are all the ways we can time-split an object or place usage, such as a bank that during evening hours could be used for community gatherings? Or the use of corporate offices during the weekend for unconferences and barcamps.
Mesh Objects given an opportunity to build social meaning
How can mesh objects be given the opportunity to become social objects (through functions such as naming, tagging, graffiti, etc)? What are the ways we can use QR codes to give a “guest book” like quality to objects that get past around. For the tool library example – how about a list of all the projects that that tool helped to build (birdhouses, tree houses, book shelves, etc.)
References
The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing by Lisa Gansky (Thank you Mr Simborg for turning me on to this read.)