Another excellent successful summary from James at Trendcatching:

“Having a human being manifested in a social media site helps in a number of ways. It helps to “make meaning” – the site becomes more than just a load of code on a server designed to make money for VCs. It’s easier to create “social value” when there’s a real person involved, not just a shadowy bunch of employees. There’s also practical value in providing a focal point of the site in an individual node in the social network. Finally, the PR value of a human story continues to endure – journalists like writing about people, not technology.”

How to make your website cool pt 3 – get a personality.