Orkut and Google
23Jan04
Last night I heard that Orkut’s social networking stuff is now being used by Google for their new Friendster clone. Great for Orkut, we’ll see how great for Google.
I personally am lukewarm about the prospect, having been underwhelmed by Club Nexus and inCircle, Orkut’s previous attempts at Stanford; and also being a detractor of the entire hook-up software industry.
I like ISIS–connecting people based on what they want to do; not who they want to do…
I bet that Google, unlike Friendster (hook-up software), will want to experiment with monitizing social networks with their keyword and contextual based advertising.
It’s not just about the hook-up, but who you’re hooking up with that will bring the $$$.
LOL. The article Bob linked to about the Friendster slip-up is hilarious and enlightening… basically, it talks about how someone accepted a testimonial from a stripper, and then through the small degrees thing, his ex-girlfriend contacted the stripper.
When they said the world is getting smaller, they weren’t kidding. With 6 degrees becoming a technologically visible reality, everybody will find themselves in a village of gossip-peers. All the hippies who want to return to primitivism and get back to the small-community living situation will find this ironic. We’ve gone from stone-age villages to anonymous megalopolii and back now to friendster villages.
gossip-peers…megalopolii…Phil, I’m glad you’re in our friendster village!