why can't Google build social apps? Because Google's core values ("be useful", "do good by users") reject the very notion of lobster traps, bacn and toast, a dozen dimensions of junk food, and giant blue ball machines. Understanding those concepts is not easy. It takes lots of practice, and lots of patience, and lots of learning...Obviously, this dogma can't be entirely correct, but the line-up of failed apps speaks pretty loudly. Even their successful apps -- gmail, google phone, google reader, and maybe blogger and picasa -- succeed only in one-to-one interactions, and fail as places to do interactions with multiple people. They don't resemble social hubs in any way.
Google is responsible for Orkut, Wave, and Buzz. Ex-Googlers are responsible for Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter...
Googlers who wanted to develop great social applications had to leave Google to do so... because Google's culture has no respect for successful social applications. YouTube's office is still far from the Google campus to avoid the toxic attitude described by a former Orkut employee, "[Google has] an environment that viewed social networking as a frivolous form of entertainment rather than a real utility, and I'm pretty sure this viewpoint was shared all the way up the chain of command to the founders."...
Google FAILED in acquiring and integrating other social products. Blogger, Picasa, JotSpot, Dodgeball, are dead.
But, if as the author says, practice, patience, learning, and failing are key, then Google can definitely turn this around. They excel at putting new things out and seeing what works. As long as they don't get driven by the immediate payoff to shareholders in every project, they can continue avoid Microsoft's fate.
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