Google Becoming a Social Butterfly

The latest in Google technologies is +1, which allows users to link their social network to search results. This sounds confusing at first, but really what Google hopes to accomplish is creating a "Like" button on search results.

The good thing about this is that sites that your peeps in your network like or use will show up first, thus helping Google to accomplish their ultimate goal of having the most relavent sites listed first. It is like calling all your friends and asking them which website they would recommend for finding the best way to get rid of the weeds in your garden (or whatever you google).

The bad thing is this enters a gray area of privacy that many people will be up in arms about because they think there is a secret big brother government agency that cares that ran out of eyeliner for your hot date. Ok that might be a little extreme, but there are people who are concerned about how much of their personal information is out on the internet. The fact is identity theft is far more prevalent offline than online. If you think about it logically it makes sense, if someone was smart enough to hack into your bank account then they are smart enough to hold down a real job and make an honest living. On the other hand it takes no brains, or self respect for that matter, to shift through people's trash to find their bank statements. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule that are the root cause of people's paranoia, but as a general rule people are more likely to stock you in the real world than in cyberspace.

With Google going into uncharted waters, I wonder if combining one's networks for site recommendations is a good thing. I think the answer lies in its implementation. If Google tries to get too personal or pushes the boundaries of their privacy policy it will flop.

I just hope that if it takes off it will reduce the number of website posts on Facebook to sites and YouTube videos I am not interested in viewing. One disturbing monkey video later makes me hesitate to click on my friends likes that say "Hey check this out!"