Comments on: Google’s new Sidewiki kicks up a storm

By: Simon Booth

Simon Booth — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:54:05 +0000

Sidewiki abruptly reminds people that the web is a public space. Your page may originally reside on your server, but when someone views it you give them a copy. This is implicit in the architecture of the web. If that person then chooses to view or write to a third place (in this case Sidewiki) further information about this copy this is part of their implied rights as a web user.

It’s uncomfortable but, as you say Alex, fighting it is an uphill battle. It’s the web’s nature.

It’s the nature of Google that concerns me though, and this may be a battle worth fighting. It’s mission is “to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. Sidewiki is counter to this mission.

Sidewiki creates a ghetto of user comments. It splits the conversation between the haves and the have nots of the Google Toolbar. This disorganises information and makes it less accessible.

Google would do better to spend it’s time organising all the conversations already happening around web pages on Twitter, Facebook etc.

By: Alex Cowell

Alex Cowell — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:06:10 +0000

A fair point Mike. I have actually used Google’s abuse@ email address once or twice in the past for search related issues and their response rate has been pretty good. Regardless, people should be focussing their efforts elsewhere IMO rather than trying to combat comments being made.

By: Mike Hook

Mike Hook — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:24:31 +0000

I think it is unlikely that the ‘report abuse’ feature willl work well.

If this feature gets popular I can see Google being inundated with ‘report abuse’ messages. Unless they employ an army of administrators most messages are bound to be ignored.