Unless somehow you’ve managed to miss it, Robert Scoble posted 3 provoking videos about why he believes Social Graph Based Search will kill Google.
Personally, I believe Scoble is dead wrong. But I won’t get into why. Here’s why… What I found absolutely fascinating was not Scoble’s theory. It was the Scoble Discussion Effect. Here’s what I mean:
- The Videos Themselves: Scoble taped himself and the output is unarguably–amateurish. The angle is terrible and the articulation is clearly unrehearsed. Unless you know Scoble you could easily expect the videos to go Gonzo-porn at any given point.
BUT: No one cares! No one cared for the quality of the vids… Thousands of people watched based on the quality of the arguments!
- Conversation: When I watched the vids, the Kyte.tv real-time chat was on. Over 300 hundred people were watching while I was and dozens were chatting about Scoble’s arguments in real-time.
- Transparency: In his first follow-up post, Scoble shared the negative criticism. In my opinion this isn’t Scoble trying to be “noble”, rather this is Scoble doing what should be done. That is, commending the counter-arguments and letting them stir round 2-X of the debate.
Regardless of his Social Graph arguments, Scoble is a pioneer who is literally creating the new rules of conversation engagement. And for that he should be respected.
(But he’s still dead wrong about Social Graphs).
