Previously, user-created lists in LittleSis, such as Bush II Administration Officials, had limited value. They basically behaved like meta tags, but clunkier. If you added Paul Wolfowitz to the Bush II list, then the list name would show up on his profile, and someone browsing through members of that list would see Wolfowitz on it — and that’s about it.
But now, in time for the inaugural excitement, list pages have some new tabs: Interlocks, Giving, and Funding:
Similar to the tabs that appear on profiles for organizations, they identify common affiliations of list members, their biggest political donors, and other potentially interesting patterns.
Even though the LittleSis profiles for the new White House are still works in progress, the Obama Administration’s interlocks are already quite interesting.