As you may well know by now, Google has announced a Social Search experiment on its official blog.
It scans your various profiles (Google Reader, Gmail contacts, Twitter followers &c) and serves up 'trusted' results based on them. Kevin May, late of this parish, has given it a try.
Previous social search experiments - such as Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales's effort several years ago - have been more explicitly crowd-based, relying on the broad spectrum of users to organise results.
Google's focus on communities within the crowd, rather than the crowd itself, makes Wales's vision look rather quaint (funny what two or three years can do these days).
Is it worth noting that between these two experiments came the explosion of Twitter? Or do they just represent two different approaches that are still equally valid?
I've pitched this as an open post, so no more from me. Do your thing below...
It scans your various profiles (Google Reader, Gmail contacts, Twitter followers &c) and serves up 'trusted' results based on them. Kevin May, late of this parish, has given it a try.
Previous social search experiments - such as Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales's effort several years ago - have been more explicitly crowd-based, relying on the broad spectrum of users to organise results.
Google's focus on communities within the crowd, rather than the crowd itself, makes Wales's vision look rather quaint (funny what two or three years can do these days).
Is it worth noting that between these two experiments came the explosion of Twitter? Or do they just represent two different approaches that are still equally valid?
I've pitched this as an open post, so no more from me. Do your thing below...
As we say in the post you kindly linked to, Google has now created a three-dimensional search portal.
1) organic and paid-for search results
2) live search (Twitter et al) results
3) social search results
The chances of this succeeding are far superior to Wiki's attempt simply because of the live element, as you suggested.
But challenges will remain, not least having volume around one's social circle and relevancy of the results (or not).
As much as I, for example, respect Hotel Blogs and its coverage of the hotel sector, do I pick a hotel for me based on what Mr Thevenot says.
Not sure.
But at least I have the choice now...