What exactly have they done ? Keen to join the 'social networking' mainstream they launched Buzz - an easy-to-get started network, linked to Gmail (Googlemail) accounts. Their mistake was to by default make up a "starting friends list" based on the most frequently mailed parties in your Gmail address book (stored on their servers, of course).
This meant that new users trying it out, found that lots of people they communicated with using Gmail were unexpectedly introduced to each other by appearing in the user's network. A recent interviewer described reaction as ranging from "furious" to "extremely furious".
This is no surprise, as the gurus of social networking - across all the networks - fail to recognise a simple reality of grown-up relationships : adults have networks of friends and contacts, yes, but we don't automatically "pool" them all as one - there are a host of reasons why we don't wish everyone in our circle to know everyone else.
The simplest reason for this is business: many of us associate and socialise at whatever level, with people we do business with: but I certainly don't want all my suppliers, to know who my customers are: nor frankly do I want all my suppliers to know about each other - that changes my relationship with them radically.
This is true of course in personal relations too - one alarming concern instantly raised with Google over Buzz, was the potential number of women with past abusive partners, who might now be provided with information about their new partners and friends and so cause new trouble or threats.
The root cause of Google's pratfall over this is simple : social network sites like Facebook, Twitter and the like all started life in the innocent, simple society of students: indeed Facebook takes its very name from the Harvard fresher's introduction book. But students are at a time of life when they are happy developing a big pool of 'mates' : they're early in life and so free of relationship baggage, and have few worries about what people read about them. Those of us a few years further down the track know that revealing everything about yourself online is very far from a wise route. Perhaps over time these networks will 'grow up' enough to be useful to the adults.
