User relationships

The user being considered here is User X. User Y is someone who User X has some kind of relationship to--note that this can include things like User Y subscribing to X, but X has nothing to do with them.

DW Relationship Table

		User X
		Subscribe	Access	Both	Neither
User Y	Subscribe	XSYS Mutual subscriptions; X and Y subscribe to each other but do not give each other access.	XAYS X gives access to Y and Y subscribes to X, but Y does not give X access.	XBYS X subscribes and gives access to Y, but Y only subscribes to X.	XNYS X doesn't subscribe or give access to Y, but Y subscribes to X.
	Access	XSYA X subscribes to Y, and Y gives access to X, but Y does not subscribe to X.	XAYA Mutual access; X and Y give each other access, but neither subscribes to the other.	XBYA X subscribes to Y and gives them access, but Y only gives access to X.	XNYA X doesn't subscribe or give access to Y, but Y gives access to X.
	Both	XSYB X only subscribes to Y, while Y subscribes and gives access to X.	XAYB X only gives access to Y, while Y subscribes and gives access to X.	XBYB X and Y both subscribe and give access to each other. The equivalent of friending on LJ.	XNYB X doesn't subscribe or give access to Y, but Y subscribes and gives access to X.
	Neither	XSYN X subscribes to Y, while Y doesn't subscribe or give access to X.	XAYN X gives access to Y, while Y doesn't subscribe or give access to X.	XBYN X both subscribes and gives access to Y, while Y doesn't subscribe or give access to X.	XNYN X and Y have no direct connections.

Commentary on specific patterns, pre-launch

Right now, this is speculation.

XSYS

Mutual subscriptions; X and Y subscribe to each other but do not give each other access.

This should be a decently common pattern; many people might want to watch and read each other's public content, but not go into the locked content.

XAYS

X gives access to Y and Y subscribes to X, but Y does not give X access.

An instance of this usage pattern would be Y as a reader of author X's content. Author X keeps all of their content locked from the general public, but gives access to interested readers. However, Author X doesn't want to read everyone who is reading them, so they don't actually subscribe to Reader Y.

XBYS

X subscribes and gives access to Y, but Y only subscribes to X.

This could be an effect of different usage or comfort levels for locked content between two users. X might be more willing to share their locked content than Y. Y might reserve locked content access to only a given few, for a variety of reasons.

XNYS

X doesn't subscribe or give access to Y, but Y subscribes to X.

Popular journals could have many instances of this pattern: X writes interesting material that Y wants to read, but X isn't a reader of Y. Y only wants to read X, however, not give X access to their locked content. This is probably the pattern that drove the split from friends into subscribe and access.

XSYA

X subscribes to Y, and Y gives access to X, but Y does not subscribe to X.

Like XAYS, but in reverse.

XAYA

Mutual access; X and Y give each other access, but neither subscribes to the other.

Probably pretty rare.

XBYA

X subscribes to Y and gives them access, but Y only gives access to X.

Pattern might occur when somebody does a "friends cut" with previously XBYB mutual friends, where Y doesn't care as much about who is reading their locked content as much as having less content to read. In this instance, Y is doing the cut down, while X still subscribes and gives access to Y.

XNYA

X doesn't subscribe or give access to Y, but Y gives access to X.

XSYB

X only subscribes to Y, while Y subscribes and gives access to X.

Differing comfort levels or usage of locked content, like XBYS, but in reverse.

XAYB

X only gives access to Y, while Y subscribes and gives access to X.

Just like XBYA, except reversed.

XBYB

X and Y both subscribe and give access to each other. The equivalent of friending on LJ.

Expected to be a very popular pattern, since mutual friending on LJ is the norm.

XNYB

X doesn't subscribe or give access to Y, but Y subscribes and gives access to X.

XSYN

X doesn't subscribe or give access to Y, but Y subscribes and gives access to X.

Like XNYS, but in reverse.

XAYN

X gives access to Y, while Y doesn't subscribe or give access to X.

Like XNYA, but in reverse.

XBYN

X both subscribes and gives access to Y, while Y doesn't subscribe or give access to X.

Like XNYB, but in reverse.

XNYN

X and Y have no direct connections.

At least...no OVERT connections.

LJ Relationship Table

This is for comparison--relationships on LJ are much simpler!

		User X
		Friend	Not Friend
User Y	Friend	XFYF X and Y have friended each other.	XNYF X has not friended Y, but Y has friended X.
	Not Friend	XFYN X has friended Y, but Y has not friended X.	XNYN X and Y have no direct connections.