It has been so casually done and so low key one might suspect they have no serious plans for profiles. It has been over a year since Google introduced profiles & yet they have not really even begun to leverage them into Search, Gmail and other properties. When they do begin Mark Zuckerberg might have to go and lie down for a while.
It has all seemed like such an innocuous move – but to me it is reminiscent of nothing less than a poker player calling rather than raising the pot when sitting with a pair of aces in the hole. This is huge and Google knows it, it feels like they are simply biding their time connecting the dots and then will take all the social media chips.
Google Profiles
A quick run through the feature list:
- Receive messages.
- Add photos. Enhance your profile by embedding photos from Flickr or Picasa.
- Create a page about you. Write a short bio…
- Add your contact information.
- Add links to your other profiles and sites.
- Show your location.
So basically Facebook without the status updates but including location based services, a link to Google Reader shares, integrating easily with a powerful email client (Gmail). Ok that rocks. Google has opted to start simply but they will expand.
The Implications
What if, with permission, Google starts featuring profiles in search?
Imagine you are searching (using google naturally) for information on Pomeranian dogs and in your search at the bottom of the page appear profiles of 3 people who are also interested in bizarre experiments in natural selection Pomeranian dogs. Voila instant social network and one which will grow organically out of our daily tasks. This is incredibly powerful.
Never mind the fact that it integrates with all the other Google services I’m already using. It seems obvious that Google should just be able to own this space should they want to but Google’s very ubiquity is part of the problem.
Why it Might Not Work
Google has become so large and all encompassing my Google profile feels lost in the ocean of information and activity that is Google. In contrast within Facebook I am held, the walled garden for all its limitations also creates a sense of security and managability. When on Facebook and interacting with it I am in a certain mode a relatively relaxed lighthearted friendly interaction space – for example I use Facebook’s messaging tool in a very different way to the way in which I use email.
With my Google profile I am not sure if it connects to my friends or if they will indeed see it. When filling it in I hesitated over some personal information which I do not hesitate to share on Facebook or Twitter.
Why Twitter Matters to Google
Twitter could provide the sense of place which feels so lacking in its profiles and indeed all of Google’s social media efforts. Twitter has a sense of place of being contained as does Facebook but Twitter’s is far more open and inclusive. If Google bought Twitter and somehow integrated Google Profiles with a Twitter profiles and then integrated it all with search it would be an incredibly powerful way of connecting people and ideas.
The possibility of it happeneing is both exciting and deeply concerning. Exciting because it would take finding like-minded people and tracking memes to another level entirely, deeply concerning because it would further centralise more of my information with Google when I already feel like I have too much there.
As more people become connected and ever more services migrate to