Why Google Sorta Sucks
I was reading this article in Wired (http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/17-07/ff_facebookwall?currentPage=all) about the Facebook vs Google rivalry and how Facebook is attempting to take over the world.
I do have several thoughts on the matter, particularly the fact that Facebook is too niche. It's a social network for personal data. I use it to keep in touch, and really rely on it for the infrequent communications. The truth is, I use it a lot more frequently than that... but when I am busy and drop off for a few days or weeks few people will do much more than comment to me when I return that they haven't heard from me in a while. The connections that are fostered on facebook are those that otherwise might not be, and that's great... but it's still not that personal.
I am not going to divulge my inner most secrets on Facebook. I don't mind sharing some personal information that matters little, like my thoughts on the weather or some boasting about how much fun I had doing X or Y. Much of that is acceptable information for the general public, which means it may as well be on Twitter or my blog. Everyone is different, but I find that few people are talking about their massive hangovers openly, even on Facebook on a Friday morning while you might find people at the office complaining over their morning coffee. A little venting amongst colleagues is acceptable. There is an unspoken understanding there that keeps the matter mostly private. That doesn't prevent someone from writing about others online, but usually names aren't provided so we're all pretty content with the level of gossip.
So for many topics like finding a doctor or planning a holiday destination, Facebook and Twitter are great tools. But there are some topics that people don't openly discuss. Some topics aren't discussed at all. If I am going to learn about coping with incontinence, I am not going to do that through a social network.
But what about other queries that aren't private but are too specific to a group of specialized people? If I am working on a programming problem, I can't rely on a social network to provide the answers. I need to go to many sources (articles, forums, etc etc) and especially don't want a record of it if it is for confidential projects at work. That's when we have to turn to a service like Google.
But Google sucks.
Google has too much out of date information. I run into the problem all the time when solving technological problems. I need the answer that works TODAY, not the answer that worked FIVE YEARS AGO.
Google has a lot of very old, out of date information in its database. I get by on using good queries, but expiring data in the index is such a challenge.
Facebook is a proprietary system that controls how data comes in. This allows them to do a lot of neat things to calculate the validity and usefulness of data.
Obviously I don't have a solution for this problem. Unless people start validating the usefulness of their results I am not sure we will have a solution (unless the google toolbar tracking our every move can deduce enough). Personally, I wont run toolbars and I'm just as lazy as everyone else in that if I need an answer in a hurry I am not going to spend my own time to rate the results. Maybe Google can give me a fraction of a cent every time I do it. Those that are dishonest will have all of their usefulness data expunged from the system... How 'bout it?