Why Google’s Search plus takes away more than it adds
Search should not be a social network. Nor should it have an agenda. But changes pushed out by Google last week are driving in uncomfortable directions.
Google has rolled out a new feature called Search plus Your World, currently available for users of Google.com who are using English and signed in with a Google profile. The feature, which defaults on but can be toggled off via a switch at the top right of the screen, displays social search results based on a user's Google+ contacts and photos shared via Google's online photo-sharing service Picasa.
This new feature specifically does not promote search results from alternative social network services such as Facebook and Twitter, although content from these rival services can still appear among search results - but only if it's specifically relevant to what you're searching for. Google+ data appears regardless of whether you're seeking it.
The big, uncomfortable point here is that Google is treating its own social content differently from the social content of some of its rivals' services. Google appears to be promoting content from its own services simply because it can - rather than because it's the most relevant and therefore useful result for a user's search query.And here's an example of Google promoting its own content over content from a rival social service - when running a search for the word "Twitter" with Google's Search plus Your World feature switched on the result is accompanied by a prominent promotion box (see below, right) that contains a series of Google+ users. Not exactly what you'd call relevant for a search for "Twitter"! Read more...
Facebook lowers six degrees of separation to four
Are you a Facebook user? According to a study by the social network and the University of Milan, the old six degrees of separation theory doesn't always apply to you anymore. Only three people instead of five separate you and anyone else with a Facebook account, bringing six degrees down to four. And if the person on the other end of the connection is from the same country, the number of people in the chain is reduced by one more. Until now, the theory has withstood the test of time since it was published in 1967 by psychologist Stanley Milgram. Read more...
New details emerge about Oracle’s Social Network
More specifics about Oracle's new Social Network software came to light on Thursday, following the product's debut at the OpenWorld conference earlier this month.
Oracle Social Network is part of the company's new Public Cloud lineup. It will serve as a high-profile competitor to the likes of rival Salesforce.com's Chatter as well as the array of speciality enterprise social-network vendors in the market.
OSN is "part of a much broader user engagement platform" powered by Oracle's WebCenter family of technologies, with the other pillars including Sites, Portals and Content, said Andy Kershaw, senior director of product management, during a webcast Thursday.
Companies are using collaboration tools today in a "very much siloed" manner, he said. For example, a conversation may begin in an instant-messaging program, but then one party to the discussion may later reply by e-mail and point someone to a document stored in yet another system. Read more...
How to automate Google+
Google+ is different things to different people. For some, it's a gallery for displaying artwork or photography. For others, it's a powerful way to promote my -- I mean their -- columns, books and blog posts. For most, it's a wordy Twitter replacement where posts are often followed by the highest quality conversations anywhere.
The worst use for Google+ right now is as a social network -- at least the Facebook variety. It seems that no amount of privacy invasion, censorship or feature bloat can dislodge extended family and old high school friends from Zuckerville. People just aren't moving to Google+ for personal social networking yet.
Everybody's on Facebook because everybody's on Facebook.
That will change over time. For now, Google+ is an elite salon for brainy nerds and creative geniuses, a mere 50 million of them at last count. Read more...
Fighting Facebook feature fatigue
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said this week that his social network is now "a new way to express who you are."
Zuck, I know who I am. Who are you?
We all joined Facebook to reconnect with old friends, keep in touch with family, and enjoy a stream of comments and photos that kept us up to date with the lives of people we care about.
Suddenly, thanks to a flood of new features, Facebook is a newspaper and a media hub, a scrapbook and life-streaming platform. Which is great -- for Facebook.
Unfortunately, Facebook is now violating three unwritten rules for making users happy with social services:
- Keep it simple.
- Keep it linear.
- Deliver the mail.
And because of these reckless violations, users are becoming unhappy. Very unhappy. Read more...
Fresh iPhone Apps for Sep. 7: Floop, Google+ Photo Importer, Food Chain, Tapsteroids
Get your social network on with today’s Fresh iPhone Apps. Up first is Floop, an app that’s all about voting on various topics, and seeing what other users think of the same questions. Next up is Google Plus Photo Importer, which integrates with your other social networks, like Instagram, Facebook and Flickr, to quickly import photos to your Google+ account through the cloud. Over in games, Food Chain provides a multiplayer Tetris-like experience, and Tapsteroids will have you tapping away furiously at your iPhone screen in order to destroy as many asteroids as you can, as quickly as you can.
Floop (iPhone, iPad) Free
Floop is a social polling app that lets users answer simple questions and find out what others think of different subjects. Tap one of Floop’s questions and you can vote on the answer, with questions such as “Will Apple launched the iPhone 5 this year?” or “Are you afraid of flying?” After casting your vote, you can check out the stats that show what other users think, and how their opinions compare to your own. Read more...
Facebook use linked to teen psych disorders
Using Facebook and other social networks can have some significant negative effects on teenagers and young adults, says a California State University researcher.
Actually, using sites like Facebook can be linked to some serious psychological disorders, like narcissism for teenagers, and antisocial behaviors, mania and aggressive tendencies with young adults, says Dr. Larry Rosen, professor of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills.
Rosen presented his findings, which he pointed out are new and not yet ready for publication, at an American Psychological Association conference in Washington, D.C. last week. Read more...
Facebook targets Google+ users with business-friendly page
Facebook introduced "Facebook for Business," a step-by-step guideline and tips page for small businesses using Facebook on Tuesday. This news is interesting, Colleen Taylor from GigaOm points out, primarily because it comes in the days after Google+ purged its social network of business accounts.
Google recently began removing business accounts -- including Mashable, Ford, and Sesame Street -- from its Google+ social network. The reason? Google+, as it stands now, is for individuals -- not businesses (hey, at least that's in line with their "real names" policy). Ford's and Mashable's accounts were later restored, and Google said it would allow a "tiny" number of businesses to keep their profiles. Read more...
Google Plus: 8 Quick Tips and Tricks
Google Plus (aka Google+), Google's new social network, might offer the right mix of sharing and privacy to woo you away from your Facebook account. If you don't know how to use it, though, it's just a confusing mess of circles and contacts. So we've assembled a few tips to help you get started. (If you aren't on Google Plus yet, try our Google Plus invite trick.)
Tweak your email notification options. By default, Google Plus will spam your Gmail account with notifications for practically anything involving your new account. You can go to the Google Account options to uncheck all of the ones you don't want to get, thereby reducing your Gmail traffic considerably. Read more...