Google +1 Makes Makes Google a Social Network

What do you get when you cross Twitter, Digg, Facebook and a Google search? Who knows, but it would certainly be a mess. Luckily, Google's new project, Google +1 is nothing like a useless mash-up of existing tech ideas. Instead, the Google +1 experiment is a fresh, new and exciting way to make web searches more relevant, focused, and useful. It is designed to bring together the group think of your friends and family and turn web searches into a group project.

What Google +1 Isn't

Google +1 is not a social network. Granted, it is based on Google Me which was originally billed as a Facebook competitor, but in practice Google +1 is not trying to be anything than a better search engine.

Google +1 is not a popularity contest like Digg or Reddit. Yes, the experimental web service relies on your friends and family to add credence to web searches and to help focus your travels through the inter-tubes. It is not designed to tell you what the world thinks is important or useful, and it is not meant to rank the Internet.

Google +1 is not meant to change the way Google works. Google has never said that they are in any business other than the search business, and Google +1 is, in reality, nothing more than the natural evolution of the search engine empire.

What Google +1 Is

Google +1 is a way to connect conceptually in your world with friends and family . Here is how it might work: I am searching for a great Android App that my friend Jeffery used. I remember that it was a program launcher, and that it was free, but that is about it I can search for free Android Launchers, and hopefully, Jeffery has given his favorite launch app a +1. The fact that Jeffery gave his virtual blessing to his search has sped up my search and helped me out.

Google +1 is searching with social aspects, and not a social network. It cannot be compared at all to the entire Facebook. Instead, it is only like the "likes" aspect. The difference is that that instead of "liking" what others have posted on their pages, you are "liking" what you searched for. You have annotated your search energy, and you are leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for your friends and family. Google is hoping that those virtual breadcrumbs will be shared with friends with similar hobbies and passions. That way, you can help each other out while simultaneously helping the Google search empire know what is hot and what is not.

Google +1 is a way for you to declare what you think is relevant and important. It is a way for you to blaze a trail through the noise on the Internet and declare what is useful. In many ways, this appeals to me much more than Facebook or Twitter. Granted, I am not necessarily creating content on the web that represents me, but I am marking my territory on the web. Google +1 will be like allowing a friend into your house and showing him/her your book and movie collections and letting him/her know you better.

How Do You Get Google +1

Anyone can be in the Google +1 experiment. You simply need a public Google Profile, and you need to visit the Google Experimental page. Once there, you can join the experiment and start leaving your virtual breadcrumbs across the World Wide Web.