Google to launch ' Anti-Facebook '-Fox News

By Clayton MorrisPublished 15. March, 2011 | Foxnews.com

You can be my friend on Facebook, dear reader, but if Google launches its new social network, I probably will not accept friend requests from people I don't know closely. It is because, like most Google users do not want my Google account to be more socially. I am completely satisfied, you will be social on Twitter and Facebook but when it comes to Google, I have my personal information.

Rumors swirled this weekend, as Google would once again throw the hat in the social ring with the launch of ' circles ' a new social network to the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas.  Google denied that it would launch this week and refuted the allegations, as such a project is in the works.

Although circles is not a real thing and only a labs project, is Google's possible re-entry into the social circle is inevitable. Make no mistake, Google wants to be more socially and I have some theories on why they never really succeeded.

Google have tried again and again to play in the social networking space. Orkut and Google Buzz is just a few examples of good intentions gone wrong. I believe that this is happening because very few people want Google to be social. When you trust Google with private information such as your daily requirements on Google Health, you do not feel motivated to start for the friend request your high school classmates.

In fact, I write this column in Google Docs. I have a lot of work in my Google Docs folders. I am fine sharing certain documents give people example permission on other documents, but I would be uncomfortable participating in social networks with people who would be one click away from such private information.

Google's rumored network, circles, presumed to have more focus on the protection of personal information and inner circle. You will be able to share certain information in a very targeted ways. I can relate to the need to. When I post the photos of my son, they are shared online for my family and friends, but friends of friends often can see and comment on them on Facebook and that's okay but sometimes I just want my nearest family see my son face deck of peas. And when I upgrade my Fox Tech take snippets on Twitter, my family and friends must endure my self promotion. Google may have found a way to solve this problem. They may have found a way to add targeted sharing of all Google services and not just a new stand-alone social network.

I would love to see a new social networks that do not feel like a popularity contest. When a new social network begins to gain traction, it seems to follow the same path as its predecessor. You see a few Weblebrities achieve large number of supporters and then you feel you must get, find a lot of "friends" and start sharing as a madman. What if the next up and coming social networks weren't quite so social, in the absence of a better word? What if message inherent social network felt more like real life, more authentic? What if it was directed against the circles in my life were actually meaningful? May not be quite so valuable to marketers because traffic to any given link or page would be lower, but it would be more valuable to me. So Google, if you want to give social another go I am willing to try again.

Related Articles