1. A method for supporting a peer-based communications service that has peer members at clients that communicate with each other over a network about topics, wherein the peer members and topics are represented by objects that have properties, comprising: maintaining information on links between the objects and the properties of the objects as links table rows, wherein each links table row contains a privacy setting, a linking association between two respective objects, and corresponding descriptive attributes, wherein each links table row's linking association includes at least two object identifiers identifying a first object at which a link begins and second object at which a link terminates, and wherein each links table row's descriptive attributes include attributes representing the relationship between the first object and the second object; searching the information using a distributed database search, wherein: the searching propagates from a client of an originating peer member to a second client of a second peer member; the originating peer member and the second peer member are within a peer network; and as the links table associated with the second peer member is searched, search results are returned to the originating peer member; and using the privacy settings to determine whether the originating peer member can display a link between objects.
1. A method for supporting a peer-based communications service that has peer members at clients that communicate with each other over a network about topics, wherein the peer members and topics are represented by objects that have properties, comprising: maintaining information on links between the objects and the properties of the objects as links table rows, wherein each links table row contains a privacy setting, a linking association between two respective objects, and corresponding descriptive attributes, wherein each links table row's linking association includes at least two object identifiers identifying a first object at which a link begins and second object at which a link terminates, and wherein each links table row's descriptive attributes include attributes representing the relationship between the first object and the second object; searching the information using a distributed database search, wherein: the searching propagates from a client of an originating peer member to a second client of a second peer member; the originating peer member and the second peer member are within a peer network; and as the links table associated with the second peer member is searched, search results are returned to the originating peer member; and using the privacy settings to determine whether the originating peer member can display a link between objects. 10. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the links table rows indicate which peer members are linked to a given peer member as friends, which peer members are linked as friends of friends, and which peer members are linked more remotely than friends of friends, the method further comprising: using a friends-of-friends privacy setting in a given one of the links table rows to permit viewing of a given link using the clients of friends of the given peer member and using the clients of friends of friends of that given peer member and to prevent viewing of the given link by the clients of the peer members that are linked more remotely than friends of friends to the given peer member.