A content management system may instantiate, from the same super class defined in a database schema, principal objects representing users and groups and content objects representing documents and folders. The principal objects and the content objects share the same social interaction functions. When a content object is modified, the system can create a message in which the content object identifies itself as a first person, update a message table such that any follower of the content object is notified of the message, and update a profile or feed associated with the content object. At least because content objects can “socialize” like principal objects, the system can generate a social graph containing content objects as nodes, map relationships among principal objects and content objects, and make recommendations to perhaps change/enhance such relationships.