Rumor: Google to Take On Facebook With “Google Me”
The internets is abuzz this morning after Kevin Rose dropped a potential bombshell rumor on twitter. According to Rose, Google is positioned to enter the social networking space very soon to compete against Facebook with a new service potentially called “Google Me.”
Ok, umm, huge rumor: Google to launch facebook competitor very soon “Google Me”, very credible source
For those who do not know, Kevin Rose is the founder of popular social news site digg. He has a somewhat spotty track record when it comes to rumors, so it may be worth taking his tweet with a grain of salt even though the idea may initially appear to be plausible.
While many would argue that Google is already competing in the social networking space with Orkut, the reality of the situation is not quite so black-and-white. Unlike Facebook, Orkut is not very popular in the United States, mostly having been adopted by South American internet users for whatever reason. A lot of the interactivity on Orkut is overrun by “brazilian mobs” on a frequent basis, causing people to feel uncomfortable with the service. The somewhat lawlessness of Orkut generally scares people away, in addition to the lack of truly compelling, unique features.
If Google really is launching a home-grown social network – Google Me – then it will be quite interesting to see how they pull it off. Would such an application make use features seen in other already-released Google products, such as Gmail, Google Profiles Wave, Buzz and Picasa?
What I would expect, and even hope for, is to see Google marry its many disparate services in to a single, unified social networking application. Rather than having yet another inbox – like on Facebook – integrate Gmail for such functionality. Use Buzz for the activity streams, synonymous with the Facebook news feed, offering both posting and mere reading. Wave could be adopted to be similar to groups while Picasa could be used for sharing photos. Google Profiles could be the very foundation for building a profile on Google Me. Google already has the making of the fundamental social networking building blocks but has not coupled the features into one application.
If packaged together in a unified, simplistic, intuitive interface these seemingly distinct applications could be forged in to one and work together as a true social networking platform similar to Facebook.
“Google Me” is an intriguing idea, and if executed correctly could be a very cool product. I look forward to this rumor turning out to be true. If it is true, expect the times to be quite interesting, especially if Google has been courting online social game companies like Zynga whose relationship with Facebook is on the verge of disaster as these companies seek less reliance on Facebook.
Are you interested in the prospect of yet another social networking site?
This is really interesting ! i will definitely try “Google Me”.
“Google Profiles could be the very foundation for building a profile on Google Me. Google already has the making of the fundamental social networking building blocks but has not coupled the features into one application.” ha that's what I've said for 6 months!
Clearly Google are considering a decoupling from GMail into a 'Google.Me' Zone akin to twitter.com which is a 'Rome where All 3rd Part Apps lead' but all the action is on the peripheral.
Google are internet whores.they tried to copy everyones ideas and make it “google this”,”google that”.. And please Google… let us decide who and when follow someone.. dont put everyone like the mess in 'buzz'…
Try 2 years. And it just gets more ridiculous with each new service Google launches.
Oh my….I just turned on a 'Google Me' Google Alert
Google will take over the world. I'm in. Google me!
I remember talking about this with you on Buzz when it first came out Rich. We don't need more logins! Unify!
you had me at “Would such an application make use features seen in other already-released Google products, such as Gmail, Google Profiles Wave, Buzz and Picasa? What I would expect, and even hope for, is to see Google marry its many disparate services in to a single, unified social networking application.”
I want that.
Contrary to Facebook, it would be a functional work platform, not just a socializing platform, and at the usual Google cost of 0 for end-users.
I really really want that.
This might be unstoppable, once the tide moves away from FB towards Google me.
(if true) It will bring us one step closer to complete domination of the interwebs by the Google, but i still want it.
Oh, and btw, don't forget to include the app for the whole thing to work on smartphones.
If Google is going to make a social networking site it needs to have a real person make their social networking site. GBuzz was done by programmers and is not really a social networking site. I tried to tell them but you know they are Google, they don't listen they think they know. iGoogle has a bunch of apps that are not updated, which is sad, I think Google has their hands in too many places. They need to focus, but hey I am not a “programmer” lol, so what do I know. ;)
da sage noch mal einer, microsoft wollte alles beherrschen oder apple plane dies…
http://nepidd.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/2456/
Please!!! I HATE FACEBOOK!!! I want GoogleMe!!!!!
On an “AS” scale of 1 to 10…. I'll give it an AS4 and wait to see what happens with the rumor!!!!
If Google Me launched this year, the timing might prove advantageous for Google. Facebook is suffering bad PR from a recent privacy flap. And a new blockbuster movie called, “The Social Network,” which slams Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, should hit Facebook's public image even further.
http://funmidnight.com/google-me-social-network...