back to article Google's social 'problem' doesn't involve building Facebook rival

Google has once again gone on record to deny suggestions that the company is in the process of building its own social network to rival Facebook. Mountain View’s mobile product development boss Hugo Barra made the comment in response to a question at the Monaco Media Forum yesterday. "We're not working on a social network …

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  1. Keith 21
    FAIL

    Google Denies...

    Google denies working on a mobile phone.

    Google denies sniffing and capturing WiFi data from StreetView cars.

    Google denies working on a social network.

    I see the pattern, so when does Google's version of FaceAche launch?

  2. Tigra 07
    Badgers

    Something strange...

    Although i don't like the business practices of Facebook, i would like to see a Googlebook equivalent.

    I might seriously consider joining and im not sure why.

    I'll put it down to mind control or subliminal advertising.

    It would be nice for my gmail, phone, desktop and social life to all link up (with possibly the tv soon aswell) so i look forward to developments here

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "... nice for my gmail, phone, desktop and social life to all link up ..."

      I don't know why, but when I read that I had a vision of all of your on-line aspects linking up and interacting automatically, and G's servers and apps playing out your life while you have to do nothing but watch. I think I've been disturbed by reading too much SF.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'll just go ahead and run that through the ol' Google De-Obfuscator:

    "We are working on yet another fucking social network platform. Kiss my ass, Zuckerberg."

  4. Andy 73 Silver badge
    Big Brother

    Parsing.... spotted flaw

    "We're not working on a social network platform that's just going to be another social network platform,"

    The important part of that is "...that's just going to be another social network platform".

    In other words, the social network platform that they are working on will be 'more than' facebook, mySpace et. al.

    I could speculate, but that's my IP :-)

    1. copsewood
      Badgers

      well spotted

      I parsed this sentence the same way when I read it: Google are claiming either not to be working on a social networking platform (unlikely given the context) or is working on something which will beat Metcalfe's law through a significant advance by giving advantages to early adopters, despite the initial competing social network having to start small.

      The advantage to my mind which Facebook lacks is a social network which operates more like the web (distributed, many independently operated servers, any client potentially able to connect to any server) than like the Facebook scaled mainframe: logically singular but physically distributed server owned by a company that changes the rules and policies at will with many subservient clients who accept what they are given and who disclose all their personal data to be sold on to Facebook's data customers as part of the deal.

      Remember that Google benefits from the development of the web as a whole, and doesn't want competition from the likes of Facebook in their core business of helping customers find vendors who will pay Google for pole search position. How better to destroy the massive potential of competition through the social networking space than by transitioning social networking into a genuinely distributed protocol and infrastructure which is more likely to want to place advertising through Google than through Facebook ?

  5. ratfox

    We don't want to go through the hassle

    We just want the data over who is friends with whom

  6. Rogerborg

    "We're not working on *A* social network platform"

    Likely they have two or three on the go internally, then they'll pick the best one to try and avoid another Wave fiasco.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    MARK MY WORDS

    Mark my words . Google is facing its greatest threat . It is the first time it has faced a real compitetor the company's future depends on how it comes out of this.

    the face book connect that shows up in all the websites is the main thing it will eat into google's AD revenues when FB starts displaying ADs on all websites.

    I hope they come up with a compelling product. Google is pillar of open web and hope it wins.

    1. lpopman
      Thumb Down

      titular bollocks

      "the face book connect that shows up in all the websites is the main thing it will eat into google's AD revenues when FB starts displaying ADs on all websites."

      Erm, since when have the FB conect buttons carried advertising?

      Oh, and [citation needed] too methinks.

      Google == Ad broker to the entire internet

      FB == Ad broker to its own network.

      I don't like either companies, but I have to live with them....

      1. Rob Davis

        They don't but they could - facebook connect buttons displaying adverts

        "Erm, since when have the FB conect buttons carried advertising?"

        - They don't but they could. I think that was the point made by the original poster.

    2. Tigra 07

      RE: AC

      "I hope they come up with a compelling product. Google is pillar of open web and hope it wins."

      Me too, as i see Facebook as too open.

      They make it possible to look someone up and find everything needed to assimilate/assume their identity in about 10 minutes.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Just contribute to diaspora.

    Google should just support and endorse Freedom- and privacy-respecting peer to peer socnet projects such are Diaspora and GNU Social. Hire few people to work full time on those, help spread the word, and watch Facebook crumble to dust.

    http://www.gnu.org/software/social/

    http://www.joindiaspora.com/project.html

    Mr. Zuckerberg richly deserves bankruptcy. Let's give it to him, for free.

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