Your real life social networks don't overlap - on Facebook they do.
The rumor mill is abuzz about Google’s potential “Facebook Killer” after Digg founder Kevin Rose tweeted that Google is preparing to release a social network called Google Me to compete with Facebook.
My reaction? It’s about damn time. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is a notorious figure these days. He’s known for his claim that online privacy is dead, as well as his shady and indirect explanation of the company’s intentions with Open Graph. Not to mention the leaked IMs from his days at Harvard University in which he refers to his classmates as “dumb fucks” for trusting him with their information. Zuckerberg’s actions have driven me to a point at which I’m about ready to pack my bags and leave Facebook.
But there’s just one small problem. Where would I go?
I know I’m not alone in my frustration with Facebook, but I think I face the same dilemma that many people my age face. We’ve been around since the beginning days of Facebook and we’re used to building our lives around it. It’s how we keep in touch with people. It’s how we network. It’s how we share photos, videos and other important parts of our lives. It’s how we stay connected. If not Facebook, then where else?
The existing social networks, such as MySpace, Friendster, and even Google’s own Orkut, just don’t have what it takes to compete. But if any company out there has the ability to build a rival, I’m putting my money on Google. And if this recent slideshare presentation by Google UX designer Paul Adams is any indication of what Google has up its sleeve, I’m psyched to see what they have planned.
Among the many themes illustrated in this presentation, there are a few key points that stand out. For one, our real life social networks are complex. Think of all the relationships you have: your coworkers, your family, your high school friends, your acquaintances, your current social clique. Very rarely do they all come together, and if they did, chances are it would be pretty awkward. Think about how social networks are set up. You post a status update, and everyone in your social network sees it and can comment on it. Your real life social network is a collection of many circles. Some of them may overlap, but many of them will never touch. Your online social network, however, is one giant circle. If Google Me can design a user interface that caters to the complexity of our real life social networks, sign me up.
Also, Google knows that people care about their privacy. In our real life interactions, we can more or less control what people know about us. But on the Internet, many people misunderstand complicated privacy settings and, as a result, their information becomes public to their whole network of friends, or, even worse, to an entire search engine. And furthermore, our offline conversations are not persistent, meaning that if you said something mean to someone in high school, it ended there. Online, you could make the mistake of posting a status update about how much you hate your boss and end up getting fired for it months later. I try to be smart and tactful with my online presence, but if Google Me can provide an interface that takes privacy concerns seriously, sign me up.
And transparency = trust. If people trust you, they’ll do business with you. And on the social web, people need to trust you with lots of personal, sensitive data. Facebook usage rates are declining due to a lack of trust in the company, because in order for a company to have true staying power, its consumers, patrons, clients, and users must trust that it has their best intentions in mind, and that it is being completely transparent. A lack of transparency leads to doubt, and nobody wants to doubt a social network that is responsible for handling such personal information. If Google Me can commit to a philosophy of transparency, sign me up.
The true challenge for Google will be to create a network for its users that gives them everything Facebook gives them, without all the unwanted crap.
What would it take for you to switch to another social network? Do you think Google Me will have what it takes to truly compete with Facebook?
Graphic by Paul Adams
I agree that Facebook has its shortcomings. However, I can't see myself ever leaving in favor of another social networking service UNLESS it could somehow sync with Facebook. All my friends and family are on Facebook and they're not going to all up and change to another network at the same time. If a platform could create a new interface but still allow me to access my friends on Facebook, it might have a chance of persuading me to make the switch.
That's a great point, Christine!
I agree with you – I hate Facebook, but it's a necessary evil. I can't delete my account, because it's the only (easy) way to keep in touch with friends who don't live nearby, as well as needing it for work… If Google could somehow come up with something that allowed me Facebook access without having all my data live on Facebook, I'd be happy…
I really hate Mark Zuckerberg too – he sells us all out over and over again, and still no one leaves Facebook (myself included.)
I agree…it definitely is a necessary evil at this point, but I'm hoping something better will come along that will make it less pertinent. Remember when MySpace was the big social network? Then Facebook came along and annihilated it. I think it is possible, but it would take a lot to drive Facebook to the same point of irrelevancy, especially with all its integration into the Internet as a whole.
It makes me wonder how extreme Facebook's privacy violations would have to get in order to scare the majority of its users out of complacency. There have been some pretty unsettling glitches, but it's easy enough to just forget about them and hope something worse doesn't happen.
Hey Jessica – great post!
I agree there's definitely some issues with Facebook/Zuckerberg's vision. From a business perspective, I think it makes sense for Facebook to open things up, but of course there's the more important concept of ethics.
What would it take to switch? A lot. Fact is, Facebook has the adoption rate. I'm Canadian, and I believe we have the highest adoption percentage at 48% in an article I read recently. So where I have all of my university, work, and hometown friends as well as a few networking contacts in one place, to actually REMOVE Facebook from my life seems silly. I'm a social media nerd that works with an SM Monitoring firm, so from an educational/interest standpoint, I'd hop onto Google Me in a second – while still using FB.
Final point – would Google make it anymore private than FB has? I think FB is just the fun one to hate on these days. Hopefully no Farmville app though….
Cheers!
@BobbyHennessey
Thanks for your comment, Bobby. I'm in a similar position as you are – social media is my job, so I would be just as inclined to add another social network to the ones I already use or experiment with. Do you ever find that it's hard to take yourself out of those shoes and into the mind of people who don't live and breathe social media? I definitely struggle with that sometimes.
I also agree with your point about how it makes sense for Facebook to open things up from a business perspective. I think Facebook's biggest mistake in that respect is its indirect nature. In the era of social media, transparency is going to be there no matter what, and it's up to the smart brand to leverage that in a way that benefits them rather than hurts them. I think Apple is the next brand that's about to learn that lesson!
And to respond to your last point, I think if the SlideShare deck from the Google UX researcher is any indication, then Google will make it more private than Facebook. Though they have had their own issues with privacy in the past, it's impressive to me that they are so much more in tune with their users' wants than Facebook is.
Definitely tough to remove yourself at times. I use one Twitter account, so I tweet for work and play, and need to be cautious on both sides of it – clients don't need to know about my beer consumption, and friends don't need to know about the latest news in SM.
My opinion: Zuckerberg's ego is beyond reasonable – and he has the dictator mindset which shouldn't/hopefully doesn't fly in the space he lives in. You mention his IM conversations from Harvard calling the users dumb – and I really think that's the way he views his users/audience. He thinks TELLING us that we want our information more accessible changes our opinion on that.
Haven't actually seen the SlideShare deck yet… going to hunt that down tonight!
Thanks again Jessica – enjoyed the article and conversation
I agree. I don't have a Facebook account, only Twitter. When, not if Google Me runs live I will be there in a second. Facebook needs the social media competition not because of all the above issues, just because of choice. There are any number of search engines an individual can use. Why not more choice with social media.
Great article Jessica!
I have a jumble of thoughts that I wanted to communicate:-
Why do we need social networking as an individual? For keeping in touch with people who in first place we were not really in touch with or were not good friends with back in high school anyways. Or to be in touch new people you meet, so they remember your name and the proof of your existence and can also see your photographic life through Facebook? We want to satisfy the ego, we want to have bragging rights about the number of friends we have, about my score on Farmville or something. You want to be friends with the same people you see everyday in your life, you hang out with. You want them to know you 'like' John's comment on your post….Its a tool for self expression. All this time people have been very secretive about their lives, their feelings, their thoughts, they've been 'private' about it. Facebook has done nothing but given you the key to open those flood gates, to let all that come out in the open…and we took it….and we feel out privacy is breached. Even though I do most of the things said above…I still believe that social media was never about Privacy…thats why we have 'personal' computers, if its on the internet, its public, its for everyone to see…if we wanted privacy, we'd get a room [harsh, but true].
I'm excited for Google Me and see what it implies for users and marketers…
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Ketan.
I definitely see where you're coming from about social media being an expression of one's ego (although those who do it well shouldn't come across that way, right?)
I think people want to be able to use social networks the way that's best for them. For some people, that means that they only want to have their friends and family, for others it means that they want to open themselves up to anyone who is interested. Recent studies have shown that people are concerned about their privacy on social networks, so I think it's the responsibility of the social networks to provide that for its users, or, if they're not going to, they need to be transparent about their intentions (which Facebook has failed to do multiple times).
True that!
Thanks for replying!
I agree, it would be nice to see some more genuine competition for Facebook.
What would it take for me to switch to another social network? A way to export and archive everything I've ever put on Facebook, particularly the pictures. I actually deleted my wall twice back in the old FB days, after copy+pasting everything into two Word documents.
Another thought is, would it be hypocritical to ask Google to commit to a “philosophy of transparency” when the space we want them to build allows us to keep from that exact same philosophy?
Also, if you're looking forward to Google Me, you should check out Diaspora as well. This is probably REALLY going to be the FB killer. http://joindiaspora.com
Thanks for your comment, Evan.
When I say a philosophy of transparency, I mean that the company should be transparent about its intentions and what its users can expect. Did you have something else in mind?
I have seen Diaspora! I'm definitely excited to see what it has to offer. I'm wondering if Google has an advantage though, in that it's a company that people already know and (in most cases) trust. It would be cool if the independent, underground nature of Diaspora is a big factor in its success though. We'll see!
[...] read an article on TNGG today about a Google project that could rival Facebook, Google Me. One feature of Google Me [...]