How could you have thought it was a good idea?I was talking with a chap yesterday who works in the telco business. We were chatting about Google Buzz and both of us said the same thing – Who on earth could have thought this was a good idea? In case you don’t know Google Buzz is a social networking tool set up to piggy back on gmail. There’s an interesting article about it by Karlin Lillington in today’s Irish Times. The problem with the system is that it draws in all the people you most frequently e-mail. I might e-mail my accountant or a business associate a lot but it doesn’t mean I want them in the same social network as my close friends or family. Seems pretty obvious doesn’t it so how come it wasn’t obvious to the Google bods? Any Google people I’ve ever met seemed to be sound thinkers with a passion for their business and a real sense of trying to do things right. So what went wrong? Were they so desperate to get on the social networking bandwagon that they ignored common sense? Was there a boss pressing so hard for results that it was easier to give in? Were they so caught up with enthusiasm for the idea that they simply didn’t stop to think of the downsides? 1 Comment1. Rob McKenna | 2010-04-01 12:47 PM Eric Schmidt (google CEO) argued recently that "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place,"* obviously this doesn't apply to him and he was very unhappy that others published information (available via google) on his salary, place he lived, where he brought women who were not his wife on dates etc. This cavalier attitude to the privacy of others and the intellectual property of others while maintaining an ultra secret work environment and a rigid grip on their own IP is embedded in Google. It is a core corporate value. Why the Buzz fail? Google is well aware that social network information is usable via correlation for identity theft (they did the pioneering research on the issue) but their failure to, as they say, "monetize" their social networking strategy is a significant pressure internally in the corporation. They are the world leaders in extracting income from semantic network data and this has enabled them to achieve an effective monopoly. But it's one which they know won't last. They are under pressure to deliver the possibility of a new revenue stream. *http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/07/schmidt_on_privacy/ Add a CommentYour comment will appear once it has been approved. |