GMail is a utility. Same with Earth, Maps (we're talking about social components for users, not for developers), Blogger (Tumblr, that is based on a social component!), Groups, Reader and Talk.
Social sharing in YouTube is extremely limited. I save my YouTube favourite videos on delicious, just to give you an idea, and never receive more than one suggestion a month about a video from the community.
Knol is a failure.
Orkut is strong only in Brazil (and India, perhaps) and is largely the (free) Brazilian AdultFriendFinder (you dive deep into it, and then you tell me).
YouTube for me is only social in the sense that the videos I like get fed to my Facebook stream. I have no connection with my friends or family from within Youtube and the quality of comments is so dreadful it makes me feel like I don't want any presence there whatsoever.
Interesting point about Orkut. I wonder if there is a Google Dating in the works. It seems to fit their mission of organizing and helping people search-- one of the most important search tasks in most people's lives actually. It's also inherently a panda task since you have a clear, stated objective that you want to accomplish and then move on.
GMail is a utility. Same with Earth, Maps (we're talking about social components for users, not for developers), Blogger (Tumblr, that is based on a social component!), Groups, Reader and Talk.
Social sharing in YouTube is extremely limited. I save my YouTube favourite videos on delicious, just to give you an idea, and never receive more than one suggestion a month about a video from the community.
Knol is a failure.
Orkut is strong only in Brazil (and India, perhaps) and is largely the (free) Brazilian AdultFriendFinder (you dive deep into it, and then you tell me).