It was only a matter of time via Moore’s Law and money via Google analytics. Business Week reports that Google wants to make social networks profitable by ranking Facebook and MySpace users. The rankings, intended to lure advertisers, are based on how many friends you have and how many friends your friends have.
Will this have an effect on the friends we choose? If Garth Brooks has friends in low places, he may need to start hanging out with people who have a higher page rank. And he’d best work on that problem spot in the chorus if he’s really not big on social (networking) graces. Maybe I won’t want Garth as a Facebook friend.
I have some nightmare scenarios on where this can lead us. Will the traditional high school homecoming queen soon be selected by Google ranking? Will college students be leery of dating someone with a lower Google ranking? Will the economic trauma of today’s upside-down home mortgages be eclipsed in 20 years by the psychological trauma of an epidemic of Google rankings turned upside down.
Some bloggers predict it will still be a few years before Google sees a payoff from social advertising. That’s good news. I may need a few years to create a Facebook page and build up my ranking.
1 response so far ↓
Cyrus // October 5, 2008 at 9:56 am |
I’m just glad I’m not the only who listens to Garth Brooks music.