The Next Great Social Network? Your Address Book
This morning I logged into YouTube and I noticed that it now helps me find me find videos and channels from friends who have linked their Google contact information to their social profiles. Meanwhile yesterday Google rolled out its social search program (which so far I like). And recently Google Reader too became a lot more social. So the Gmail address book/contact list is finally showing that it can be a powerful tool for connecting you to your social connections. This is something we saw coming.
Here's what I love about this...
First, because I have lived in Gmail the last five years, there's loads of data in there that can make social networking even more powerful. Google will do a lot to mine these connections. This is just the beginning. But third parties will assist too. I love what Remail is doing by helping me easily find emails from contacts on my iPhone - even when I am offline.
Second, its agnostic. Google doesn't care which social network you join. If a user links their profile to their social graph, Google will hep you harness it.
Finally, I like that you're in complete control. If you don't want people to be able to search your Flickr photos, make them private and do not connect them to your Google Profile.
However, here's the big question - will consumers set up their Google profiles? And, if they do, will they link them to their social networks? If they are tech adept, yes, they will. But what about the rest of us? I am not so sure. This has to get as easy and as elegant to use as Facebook.
Watch for Google, and perhaps Yahoo and AOL, to make a big push in this direction in the coming months. Google will start promoting Profiles heavily and on its spartan home page so that they can get smarter about social networks. And Facebook, meanwhile, will do the same by encouraging more sites to use Facebook Connect so that, over time, they can help you search the annotated web as filtered by your friends.
Comments 17 Comments
(And mine doesn't show up for me; it keeps telling me I have to add more information about myself.)
None of my friends have Google profiles, and I'm not sure they'll bother when they already have Facebook and Twitter and LiveJournal.
I think there is a valid point about users filling out their google profiles. I think people are at a point where they dont want to have 1 more site they have to keep up with. Especially for people who are not as tech inclined.
Something to have on Google search home page, collecting info from your email (trying to guess what Social Networks you are part of) and asking you to confirm (or not). Maybe.
i've avoided google acounts like the plague... and will continue to do so...
I dont beleive in the hysterical big brother idea. Google wants to make money. Thats what they use their info for. And i have nothing to hide.
Ironically we are doing the documenting ourselves nowadays.
On topic again. I've felt for a long time that Google is trying to build a explicit Social Network from implicit connections you've made. I'm curious as to what Google will do once the Twitter-stream flows into their servers, will they look followers etc.? When will they unveil the power of the contacts you saved in Gmail?
On point, i think that this is all going to come to a point as google implements wave. Rather than replicate an existing framework (facebook, myspace, etc) they are going to build the next level on their supposed next level platform. I dont have much insight into that seeing as how i am not one of the elite few who received a wave invite.
google's complete lack of disregard for privacy could not be better expressed by the way they rolled out Buzz... their ineptitude could not be further highlighted given how they rolled out Wave...
i will not be part of a "real people" internet experience... i like that people canNOT google my name or e'mail address and find the real me... i have guarded that privacy since first going online in 1992 and will keep it that way...
no i am not that sean bean ... when the IRS or DHS decides to come after the real me... because i refuse to buy their mandated health insurance...
they won't find me... easily...
i have nothing to hide, as Mario Losasso said... but neither do i have any interest in providing an easy path to my front door...