A few posts back, inspired by the stunning news that Facebook’s customer satisfaction rating is even worse than that of the IRS’s e-filing program, I wrote about the giant social network’s possible future as a whistle-blower tool for tax authorities in developing countries such as the Philippines.

In a guest blog at the Tax Foundation today, Aaron Merchak stands that idea on its head and asks: Is Facebook actually on the verge of becoming a sovereign state, complete with taxes of its own?

Merchak points to a classic definition of nation-states that fits social networks to a tee: “imagined communities.” He notes that Facebook already runs its own virtual currency called Facebook Credits and rakes in a sales-tax-like slice (30 percent!) of every transaction involving that currency.

I’m not too concerned that we’ll be seeing a Global Great Leader Zuckerberg anytime soon, since I’m pretty sure that the notion of a sovereign state has to include things like actual real estate and armies. But it’s astonishing how much influence this guy has gathered, and how quickly.

An Economist article cited by Merchak reports that in an online video chat last month, Zuckerberg swapped ideas with British Prime Minister David Cameron about ways for networks to help governments. The article goes on to ask: “Was this just a political leader seeking a spot of help from the private sector — or was it more like diplomacy, a comparison of notes between the masters of two great nations?”

Diplomacy is overstating it, of course, but the affinities between Zuckerman’s world and Cameron’s run deep. I’ve been impressed by how quickly Cameron’s new coalition government has made good on at least part of his pre-election promise to bring what he has called “the spirit of glasnost” to British lawmaking, via maximum exploitation of information technologies.

The full structure that Cameron wants — including full real-time online access to details of politicians’ expenses, lobbying activities, government spending, and parliamentary proceedings — will take time to emerge. But an example of where things are headed is a new government Web site called Your Freedom, which invites citizens to comment on laws that they think should be ditched.

On launching the site, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg called for “raucous, unscripted debates.” He’s certainly got that. Some of the comments read like the worst kind of social media-spawned drivel; here’s one of my favorites, quoted in full (original is here):

“Tax evasion is akin to treason, as it is cheating the exchequer of the nation out of its rightful duty. All people — from those working cash-in-hand to those salting their cash away in off-shore banks — should face the death penalty for cheating the nation.”

A person calling him- or herself BuckoTheMoose thoughtfully responds:

“Bloody ridiculus [sic]. Stick to Facebook. This is supposed to be serious.”

But Bucko is missing the point. Facebook — and the prospect that social technologies hold out for a more participative democracy — is about as serious as it gets. ###