Most people would help out occasionally if an acquaintance came to them and asked them for something specific. You use your social network to find someone in a position to help, because of their location, their skills, their resources or their contacts. The idea is to extend the Linked In concept beyond employment help, to other help. It would have to be possible to opt out of notifications, to enter a timeframe for the request (so they age out) and an urgency. A system of tracking the 'favors' a person has done could give people who accept more responsibility more priviliges. Example: checking on an elderly relative in another state after a storm.