Interesting: Spock
September 1st, 2007
It’s been a while since I checked out a new Web 2.0 website, but I had an invite for Spock lying around and finally decided to check it out. It’s a search engine for people and the relationships between them.
Spock is a little scary. I say this because after I logged in for the first time about a month ago, I’m pretty sure more information about me was dug up – seemingly automatically. I think Spock checked out Technorati and added the people that consider my blog a favorite, and it seems to be pulling in information from MySpace, LinkedIn, and other sites.
How do they justify this? I suppose all this information is already online in some form and all Spock is doing is the research and putting it in one place. But as with Google Maps Street View, it’s kinda odd to see the disparate information in one spot linked with your name. As an example, my brother is in Spock, due to one of his social network profiles.
But in three steps, Spock gets you in their system. First, I’m already listed without my consent. Second, I noticed inaccurate or missing information and felt an uncontrollable urge to fix it so nobody would be led astray (I added by blog and Twitter info). Third, there are other people with the same name as me, and I felt a duty to differentiate myself from the other JKs out there. This is an interesting way of getting people to sign up for a Web 2.0 service. A sneaky strategy would be to seed it with slightly inaccurate information (like the incorrect marital status or quotes not attributed to you) just to goad people into signing up.
Spock also allows you to define relationships between other people’s profiles and your own.
Anyhow, I certainly found Spock amusing. I’ll definitely check it out occasionally to make sure my profile isn’t full of errors.
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Posted In: Interesting, Technology
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[...] online which allows you to search for information on any person. As Jason at webomatica said when he tested the service Spock is a little scary. I say this because after I logged in for the first time about a month ago, [...]
Yeah, what the hell? I’m on there, too. It looks like it just leeched some of my information off of my old MySpace profile (which is now deleted).
I don’t think I’ll give in, though…it’s the internet, there’s always going to be incorrect information about you online somewhere. Joining their network seems to be the worst way to let them die – it helps them grow, and therefore, continue.
It’s an interesting strategy, but I don’t find it to be an ethical one.
Hey Mike, interesting take. I guess that is another approach if the Spock one bugs you – ignore it and maybe they’ll go away like so many other .coms.
Yeah, what the hell? I'm on there, too. It looks like it just leeched some of my information off of my old MySpace profile (which is now deleted).
I don't think I'll give in, though…it's the internet, there's always going to be incorrect information about you online somewhere. Joining their network seems to be the worst way to let them die – it helps them grow, and therefore, continue.
It's an interesting strategy, but I don't find it to be an ethical one.
Wow, that is crazy. I think the big problem is not really that it can aggregate all these other sites’ info (all of that is publicly available), but that pretty much everyone has a “Google twin” (or many many more), like you mentioned.
[...] … relationships between other people’s profiles and your own. Anyhow, I certainly found Spock amusing. I’ll definitely check it out occasionally to make sure my profile isn’t full of errors. Technorati Tags: Spock, Web 2.0, Technology. …more [...]
[...] whole invite-automatagically-creating-a-profile thing is… amusing. A very Spock-like [...]