Can Google Latitude Make Location Based Networking Go?

So Google released a new location based service called Google Latitude . I think it's a pretty cool idea and hope it catches on. It's not a new idea, but things get more attention when they come from Google. Unfortunately I'm on an iPhone and they have not released the new app for it, so I'm not going to give you a review of it yet. On iGoogle it's not very interesting to he honest.

Of course the web started buzzing with "this is great" and "this is a nightmare" post as soon as it was announced. I had two thoughts when I first saw this, "I wonder if I can talk my friends into trying this" and "I wonder if Google is the right one to move location based social networking forward". I think those two are related.

While Google has an enormous base, they still have not really figured out how to put it all together into a social network that people use (I know...Orkut is very popular in Brazil and the Niagara Falls area). Latitude is just another unconnected piece of Google floating around out there. For this type of location based service to get traction, it needs to be plugged into something that already has a base built on a social network. This way, when it gets fired up for the first time, there are a ton of users already sitting there. If we all turn it on and see each other, we can find ways to use it quickly. If I turn it on and all I see is Robert Scoble and Chris Brogan ...hey I love reading those two, but I'm probably not turning it on again just to see where they are. Not very useful.

But...add this to facebook and it becomes useful within 5 minutes and stays useful, at least in the way a social network can be "useful".

Not only does Google not really have a real social network, but less than 25% of my friends and family use Google for anything other than search. And they are not going to sign up for a new service or with a new company to do this. They just wont.

I tried Loopt when it came out, but hardly any of my friends did. I lost all interest in it almost immediately when no one I really cared about was using it. It was not because the app or features itself lost the luster, it was that no one else was using it. It was a social application that was not very social for me.

On the other hand, just about everyone I know is on facebook. My friends, family, colleagues, etc. If Google can plug into my facebook friends, that would be cool and useful. While you're at it, let's do LinkedIn as well. Twitter, Friendfeed...keep going. Of course that's just a dream. Facebook and Google don't plan to share with each other that much.

I wish Google would either figure out how to tie all their loose ends into a social network knot that attracts people - or pass this on to companies who care more about building a social network (or already have one). Google likes to think "the web is the social network" but that's not true, and it won't work. I'll write more on that later.

Of course maybe the problem is I just need more friends.