Google says point blank, dogmatically, and in bold…
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You can make money without doing evil.
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Does Google’s shutting down Google Reader bear reflection upon the ten things that Google knows to be true?
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Shutting down Google Reader disconnects people, prevents them from sharing, and changes the game on several levels for many stakeholders. But is that evil?
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What is evil?
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Wikipedia doesn’t give an illuminating definition of evil.
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Myself, I have always considered evil as the deprivation of the dignity of a thing – especially a deprivation of the dignity of the human person. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, for example, are universally considered basic to the design and identity of a human being. That which threatens deprivation (or actually deprives us) of our good exercise of this existential property by intention, therefore, is unmistakably evil.
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Murder, theft, lies, supernormal taxes, unjust laws, unbounded ambition, and adultery are conspicuous and patent examples of evil – recognized alike by the ancient shepherd and modern cosmopolitan. Most of us (myself included) participate in evil to some degree – more often than we may want to admit to ourselves. It is unfortunate…
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But as much as is at stake in Google’s shut down of Google Reader – the deprivation of a free service (once provided at Google’s expense) does not appear to be evil. Even if the deprivation causes harm.
Untimely cancellation of a free service or feature is, in fact, the territory and culture of the proverbial free lunch.
The shut down may encourage us, however, to reflect on Google’s motives and brand.
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Googles’ decision, for example, seems to contradict other Google truths. Are these paradoxes a symptom of incompetent management (Kitchen Nightmare) or a conspiracy of brand?
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Focus on the user and all else will follow.
There’s always more information out there.
Great just isn’t good enough.
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Ultimately, if the moral arc of Google’s character is profoundly problematic, perhaps we should consider the alternatives and disempower the capricious, authoritarian throne that Google seems to pursue.
The more important lessons, nonetheless, are clear:
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Users of freeware, beware.
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Don’t build your dream, business, mission-critical process, product or service on freeware.
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If you’re not paying for it, it’s not a tangible asset. At best, it’s a hack (cheat).
This is so awesome that it defies any attempt to describe it with any of my usual coherence, clarity and objectivity – not in one sentence.
It costs $10 per month. That’s about the cost of two super-sized venti whatever lattes – that some of you buy in one day. OR
You could just pay the one year subscription for $60. That’s a 50% discount!
Fucking A!
A as in AWESOME.
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Disclaimer
I have not been paid or compensated in any way to share my excitement about this killer social app.
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The problem with even the best of breed social apps out there is that they don’t provide the kind of opportunity and efficiency as all those social media experts and fans tout. If a social app ONLY changes the life of one person for the better – one in ten million – that’s an epic fail. It’s not a win!
Because that win ain’t yours!
And that win never shall…
Be yours.
Never ever.
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What is an acceptable rate of win?
An acceptable rate of win is a win for one in ten thousand. You won’t find an acceptable rate of win on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin, etc. And if you can prove me wrong, Mazel tov! I’ll give you $100.
But before you reach for my Benjamin, I have to describe to you how I describe an acceptable rate of win.
Social Proof
Results are everything. And what can be done in one month is the best measure of any social app.
1. Twitter
a. 1000+ Twitter friends auto-tweeting your posts
b. 100 new Twitter followers per week
c. Twitter verified your account because of your popularity
2. Facebook
a. 1000+ Facebook friends and subscribers auto-sharing your wall posts
b. 100 new Facebook subscribers (personal or fanpage) per week
c. 1000 likes per week
3. Blog
a. 3% to 7% increase in blog traffic per week
b. 1,000 new subscribers per week
c. advertising revenues increase by .05% to 2% per month
Social Search
Social Search is not just about typing a name, key word, or search phrase. It’s about the quality of results. It’s also about the speed of getting relevant results. More important than these, social search is really about the interaction available and the opportunity that can be unlocked between you and your social search result.
1. I can add up to 100 new people to my network per hour. I can search and find these new “Follows” in an intelligent and efficient manner.
a. Profile rankings based on the confidence by members of the community
b. Badges and Reputation earned by their selection for such by members of the community
c. Profession, Job Title, and Employer Company Name
d. Awards, Distinctions, and Recognitions
e. Personal Interests and Hobbies
f. Personal Likes (books, movies, music, etc.)
g. Full Name, email and/or location
h. Search Ranking of their profile and other online properties
i. Top 20 topics that reflect on them or their work (images may be included)
j. Mention in local, national or international news
2. Once identified, I can evaluate their relevance to me via a smart, useable summary of the above. That summary will also include information, pictures, art, other media and links which they have selected for the snap shot profile.
3. After adding people to my ADDS, several things will follow:
a. The Follow will be notified of my ADD by email or sms AND message in the network inbox of my account.
b. They will receive a snap shot profile of me and a call to action to consider adding me and/or send me a personal or form message that includes text, media and links.
c. If I do not send them one or two communications (maximum is two for a Follow) via the network within 30 days, I will be given the option to file “them” in a list of “Interesting People” or allow their name to drop from my list of Follows.
d. If they do not reply or respond to my initial ADD or messages within 60 days, their name will drop from my list of Follows regardless of my expectations and hopes. Furthermore, I will not be able to send them a message or re-ADD them for a period of six (6) months (or more) unless they initiate an ADD.
4. When they ADD me, they become a Friend.
a. I can send a Friend up to 20 free messages per month. The total size of a free message must be less than 1MB but it can include text, media and links. For an additional $5 per month, I can send up to 20 GBs of messages per month. Storage beyond 30 days is only a small, additional fee, but I can opt to have all my messages routed to my email before and after reading them.
b. I have fixed, named spaces and a rolling feed that can only be seen by Friends and/or the public according to the privacy settings I choose for a named space, my feed or an individual share. Regarding my Friends, I can also set privileges for what Friends can see what by “grouping” them. A Friend can be designated to as many groups as I create.
I could write ten pages about these killer features and I’d still have 12 more blog posts to write – telling you all about this BEAST.
Social – Can’t Touch This!
Twitter, Facebook, whatever… ain’t no one that can touch this. Just like MC Hammer sings it!
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MC Hammer, Can’t Touch This
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Today, it’s good to be me.
And that’s what a killer social app does! It gives you every reason to shout this out from the rooftops:
I pondered what this should mean. It could mean many things as Michael himself suggests. But what should it mean – if it is addressed by greatness. I pondered this across the day and into the evening. In the middle of the night, I awoke. It came to me just then. Forrest Gump.
Beyond advertising, social, and IBM. And other digital DOHs.
by Stan Faryna
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IBM’s 2009 report, Beyond Advertising, was said to be a feast. Download it here. But if it was a feast, it was a feast of leftovers. Think Thanksgiving – or, more precisely, the three day old leftovers of Thanksgiving. And that was in 2009!
Q: What do you think makes an entrepreneur an entrepreneur?
by Stan Faryna
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For those who know me by my blog here, my answer will surprise you. Because I’m not going to tell you that entrepreneurship is driven, foremost, by love, hope, and faith. Virtues, natural or supernatural, may fuel the mission and the vision, but love can not adequately describe the economic function of the entrepreneur. Nor shall leadership.
Great entrepreneurs are not born. They are made in hell.
And I am reminded of Kipling who wrote, “Stand up and take the war, The Hun is at the gate!”
For all we have and are, For all our children’s fate, Stand up and take the war. The Hun is at the gate!
Outraged, Rudyard Kipling wrote these opening lines to For All We Have and Are in 1914. He wrote to stir the British to war against the looming German threat.
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This blog post sucks. Don’t write a blog post like I have done here. There’s no happy place here. That’s going to be your take away. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Stan Faryna 
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