What a bottom line to have? On BBC news:
Last month Google revealed global third quarter profits of $733m (£390m). This was a 92% increase on the $381m it made during the same time last year.
Is this sort of growth possible to sustain? From my humble perspective I would doubt it. But in the meantime it is great for google.
The question is who will be next? Following on from YouTube and other such major acquisitions the value of social networks is growing all the time. They are filling a need in our lives to understand ourselves in the context of community. We all know that just thinking highly of ourselves is of limited value but if someone else values something about us then that can elevate our self worth immensely.
That is why there is so much value in these networks that are forming every day. That is why these large companies are placing so much value on them.
I wonder if they will realise that working with real people will be very different to dealing with a commodity. Remember iVillage of the web 1.0 days. Where are they now? They are still there but they are no longer at the cutting edge of web communications and there is a plethora of startups looking to take the place of some of these ageing sites.
And, a bit of touch up on the outside isn’t really going to cut it. Its the same for our personal development.
- To really change requires a revolution from within.
- To find a totally new way of doing things.
- To move outside a commodity based economy in our souls.
- To develop a new way of communicating to ourselves and to others.
- To move from individualism to active community engagement.
Google’s growth says to us that rapid change is possible for us after all many organisations reflect the sort of dynamics of people. How to make it sustainable is the difficulty that I will deal with in the very near future.
In the meatime just like Google if there is growth and change happening and it is positive enjoy the ride, set your sails to maximise it while it last and get ready for the next wave.