Back on June 10th, 2009 I wrote an article titled “A multi-billion dollar idea!” My premise was that Facebook worked great for kids, who want popularity and everyone as their friend. But, adults actually have circles of trust, of friends. Not everyone is a friend. Not everyone is trustable or shares the same values we have in a given context. It’s something we must teach children. My prediction was that adults would start leaving Facebook as the novelty of “everyone is a friend” would prove to be unworkable. It’s OK for marketers and kids, but not human adults. It seemed that an adult way of working with human smaller circles had to happen.

Well, Google is getting close to launching their own social network with “Circles” as a major component. Soon you will be able to socially network as adults actually do in real life. You can have a circle of your closest friends. Some of them may overlap with your political friends or your volleyball friends. You’ll be able to reach more people the way you actually think, with circles joined by invisible links to each person. We’ll of course see Facebook follow with their own upgrade as they see what works and doesn’t with Circles.

Thanks dad for teaching me chess when I was little! We never know how some odd learning later helps us see the world in a different way so we can help others. Chess helped me see multiple scenarios into the future. Steve Jobs learned calligraphy and it helped him invent the Macintosh. Everything you’ve ever learned is a hidden gift waiting to be expressed.

Learn more about the coming Google+ here: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/28/google-launches-all-out-social-networking-assault-with-google/

Here’s the problem: Who’s really your friend? A psychologist asked me this when i was young and it’s a great question. We humans actually must categorize people. Not everyone is truly a friend. Facebook has now introduced this problem because Baby Boomers have moved in as in any market. Now EVERYONE wants to be your friend. So you get invites from marketeers, your parents, random people you’ve never met, employers, and occasionally real friends. Since Facebook was designed for young people, who are focusing on being liked and making friends to do so, they missed this. This isn’t how adults actually work. Instead, we have levels of trust. Life requires trust until we live in a purely giving society.

The idea is for a new social network to let you categorize friends sociologically. Some are friends, some are acquaintances, some are business partners, some are family. Many don’t want their employers, or potential employers, looking at their family or friends. Reflecting how humans really work, and solving their problems, is how riches are made.

Could you write an add-in for Facebook? Or maybe launch your new network? Someone is going to solve this problem really quickly and get rich. If the Facebook crew said, “it’s already been done” they would have lost out on billions of dollars. It’s never to late do something better!

Check out this great article that tracks why MySpace lost market share and why Facebook may soon do the same. Baby Boomers are like locusts and we must watch their habits to find what they’ll consume next. Just give me a shout out when you cash your first big check.

http://tech.msn.com/news/articlepcw.aspx?cp-documentid=19904693&GT1=40000