Some things are better understood when analogy is applied. Same thing with the social media. Shana Albert has complied cool, deep, and absorbing analogies to explain different aspects of Social Media:

Join the Conversation or Break Into the Conversation? - Sean at Grin & Grumble compares Social Media being a Pool and Bloggers being the different types of swimmers in the Pool of Social Media.

The "symphony" of social media - Dee Rambeau at CausePlanet.org writes a creative analogy comparing a symphony orchestra with social media.

Why Corporations Should Blog (Hint, it's not SEO) - Josh Hallett at Hyku uses your love for your significant other to prove a point.

Marc Canter's vision of the open social network - Chris at Particls Blog comparing Facebook and other Social Networks are like Shopping Centers.

Fly-Fishing Where the Fish Are - Ann Handley at Marketing Profs Daily Fix writes about fishing using flies was not unlike marketing using the tools of social media.

Social Media, the Pond Analogy and the Old Media Disconnect - sean at Scrollin' On Dubs compares Marketing with the spreading of ripples in a glassy pond.

The Ethics Of Social Bookmarking - xrayspecs at The Internet Marketing Neophyte compares a new site to a piece of driftwood.

Social Media Marketing is Similar to a Fishing Tournament - Mark Laymon at Collective-Thoughts

Bookmarking Solutions: Quick Access vs. Long Term Storage - Jay White at Dumb Little Man compares Social Bookmarking to paper filing systems.

Advertising Tips (with Sex examples) - talisman.org explains what marketing is using Pick-up Lines and the such.

Online social networking, an extension to human evolution? - Arun Radhakrishnan at TechRepublic talks about the relation between social networking and human evolution.

The Virtual world and the Real World - An Analogy - Karthik Vijayakumar at Water Droplets compares The virtual world to the real world.

There you have it. But those are just some of the creative analogies on the Net. You can formulate yours too.