http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxemics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propinquity

Kinesics is the interpretation of body language such as facial expressions and gestures — or, more formally, non-verbal behavior related to movement, either of any part of the body or the body as a whole.

The term was first used (in 1952) by Ray Birdwhistell, a ballet dancer turned anthropologist who wished to study how people communicate through posture, gesture, stance, and movement. Part of Birdwhistell’s work involved making film of people in social situations and analyzing them to show different levels of communication not clearly seen otherwise. The study was joined by several other anthropologists, including Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson.

Drawing heavily on descriptive linguistics, Birdwhistell argued that all movements of the body have meaning (ie. are not accidental), and that these non-verbal forms of language (or paralanguage) have a grammar that can be analysed in similar terms to spoken language.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralanguage

And I’m interested in the sound of Kestner’s “social gardening” concept:

Social Gardening

Technology has allowed people to develop larger social networks than previously done. But as a result, we have more relationships than we can manage. Social Gardening explores using plants as metaphor for relationships, hoping to encourage us to tend our social connections like we do our garden. By tracking and analyzing communications through email, instant messaging, social websites, SMS, and phone, Social Gardening proposes to give feedback on how our relationships are flourishing or wilting. It may also provide a practical interface to browse and manage conversations and contacts.