(2010-07-13) Rifkin Google Cant Build Social Apps

Adam Rifkin explains why Google can't build Social Software. Google apps are for working and getting things done; social apps are for interacting and having fun.

I Commented: Maybe Google will end up creating a social-utility application that will be the basis of the transition to a new and resilient Network Economy, while FaceBook users are still sending each other cat pictures. Both are good. One implication of this model might be that Google should stop trying to make pointless-fun social apps. But maybe there is some learning going on there, just not the kind of learning that will lead to a FourSquare.

Update: "Google -- and everyone else -- needs to stop letting FaceBook set the terms of social, because social has never actually been about the power of Strong Ties, nor about a FIXED identity... It is SUCH a misconception that Facebook initially started for family and close friends. It started for schoolmates to MEET each other... It was all about people in that magical liminal moment of American life: the first year of college. Where you could change your identity in a summer... Look to the Weak Ties. Look to IDENTITIES IN Context. There's still so much to be done in helping people meet, have conversations, and hook up.