A few days ago I logged into my google reader and found a big black box asking me to try the new Google Reader Play. It reminded me slightly of StumbleUpon because you browse from one suggested website to another – with the suggestions based on what’s popular on the web right now (according to Google – and they know a bit about it) and also based on what you’re ‘google’ friends are looking at – which means it makes sense to connect with people over the google network. Over time, Play also figures out what you like looking at and serves you up suggestions based on your past behaviour.
So, you get to meander your way through the web based on existing search patterns instead of having to actively ‘search’ the web. It’s like you’re outsourcing your surfing experience – except that it’s much more like ‘crowdsourcing’ because what you get shown is based on the behaviour of the ‘crowd’ of people that you’re connected to.
This is a great example of how google is injecting their ‘social network’ into the web – rather than just trying to set up a single platform you have to log into. If you want to experience this rather than ‘watch it’, why not join my friends and I on this site using the Google Friend Connect Gadget in the side bar and then you’ll experience how it works first hand.
Oh … and if you haven’t got a google reader account yet, you might wanna read my post about it – why you should use google reader
