Via Scoble I found this idea, first sounded at usr/bin/geek, of using Google Reader to socially share and rate stories, a la Digg. Expressed in competitive terms:
If Google Reader aggregated and displayed how many people Shared each post and then calculated the most popular ones and displayed them in a separate label (like they have for Stared and Shared) they could have a feature that kills Digg!
I could see this approach applied to political news as well, a la Memeorandum and Tailrank. Or, and more likely, to Google's own news project, Google News. Google would have to emphasize this sharing feature much more strongly than it currently does.
I've been impressed by the recent improvements in Google Reader (cf Alan Levine's jubilation, which shows a big change after he and I talked about this a year ago). Not enough to jump ship from Bloglines, which I love, use, and teach, but perhaps this social angle is the deal-maker.
An incredible thing about Google is that they never stop innovating. They have a 20%rule in place which mandates their employees to spend 20% of their time on their own projects. If every company did this I can't help but wonder how much further along technology would be. Transmit your advice to a Google employee and maybe you'll see it happen.
Andrew Pass
http://www.Pass-Ed.com/arts.html
Posted by: Andrew Pass | December 28, 2006 at 17:29