This Is How Well Google Knows Your Social Circle

Google makes no secret of the fact that it keeps tabs on a lot of information about your social connections as a function of its useful social search function, which weights your search results in accordance with the browsing habits of your friends.

But how well does it know your social circle? Click this link to see just how well. Even more dizzying than the list of people you’ve ever been in touch with is the list of secondary contacts, or friends-of-friends. (I got over 5,000 of these.) Good for networking, in theory, but somewhat of a shock to see splashed out and documented in this way.

[This] is the network of connections Google uses to identify relevant social search results. It is based on a combination of the following:

• Direct connections from your Google chat buddies and contacts

• Direct connections from links that appear on your Google profile

• Secondary connections that are publicly associated with your direct connections

In addition to web pages from your social circle, posts from your Google Reader subscriptions may also appear in your social search results.

(h/t Boing Boing)

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Robert Quigley