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Sounds a lot like an idea I was considering, until I saw BrainTrust.io had already attacked it and The Fridge (YC S10) had followed up. The problem for someone

Sounds a lot like an idea I was considering, until I saw BrainTrust.io had already attacked it and The Fridge (YC S10) had followed up. The problem for someone like Google, as I see it, is "competitive advantage" boils down to "it's like Facebook except you can share stuff just with certain groups". Except, Facebook already has groups.

karterk 16y ago
Facebook groups seems to me like an after thought. On the other hand if Google builds something which has the privacy and groups built right into the core, it will make a different experience. Whatever it is, they certainly have the reach which other start-ups like The Fridge might not have.
- nopassrecover 16y ago
  Agreed that they seem an after thought, but with the talent they are acquiring and the resources at their disposal, I can't see anyone beating Facebook on a features basis. They might on a privacy basis, but I'm not sure Google has a lot more confidence in that respect than Facebook.
  - JonnieCache 16y ago
    I think you're underestimating the potential in building a new social network with the concept of firewalling groups of contacts at the foundation of the infrastructure. For example, if friendships in this new system cannot exist in the data schema without being part of a group/circle, this would have profound effects on any ecosystem built on top of it, extending right up to the broader U[I|X] level. You could compare this to how facebook built their whole success on the concept of activity feeds, which was arguably their killer feature over myspace. Myspace did have similar functionality, but it was tacked on in the way that groups are tacked on to facebook. Hopefully google can kill facebook by building their offering with privacy groups right at the core, and layering everything else on top of that. EDIT: I think what I'm trying to say is that privacy has massive potential to be a core feature/selling point in and of itself. It could also potentially form the foundation of a more successful social networking platform/ecosystem full stop.

karterk 16y ago

Facebook groups seems to me like an after thought. On the other hand if Google builds something which has the privacy and groups built right into the core, it will make a different experience. Whatever it is, they certainly have the reach which other start-ups like The Fridge might not have.

nopassrecover 16y ago
Agreed that they seem an after thought, but with the talent they are acquiring and the resources at their disposal, I can't see anyone beating Facebook on a features basis. They might on a privacy basis, but I'm not sure Google has a lot more confidence in that respect than Facebook.
- JonnieCache 16y ago
  I think you're underestimating the potential in building a new social network with the concept of firewalling groups of contacts at the foundation of the infrastructure. For example, if friendships in this new system cannot exist in the data schema without being part of a group/circle, this would have profound effects on any ecosystem built on top of it, extending right up to the broader U[I|X] level. You could compare this to how facebook built their whole success on the concept of activity feeds, which was arguably their killer feature over myspace. Myspace did have similar functionality, but it was tacked on in the way that groups are tacked on to facebook. Hopefully google can kill facebook by building their offering with privacy groups right at the core, and layering everything else on top of that. EDIT: I think what I'm trying to say is that privacy has massive potential to be a core feature/selling point in and of itself. It could also potentially form the foundation of a more successful social networking platform/ecosystem full stop.