#021 – Spock – The People Search Engine

1 01 2010

#021 – Spock – The People Search Engine

Jay Bhatti Jay Bhatti is a very intelligent & highly-articulate 34-year old Wharton Business School MBA graduate and Entrepreneur. Based in San Francisco, Jay is co-founder of Spock.com, a People Search Engine, which launched in Public Beta in August 2007.

For those that are curious, S. P. O. C. K. is a backcronym for ‘Single Point of Contact by Keyword’ – and represents a new concept in Search – devoted exclusively to finding, indexing & profiling PEOPLE on the Internet, rather than just documents.

[18:45m] | Download MP3

One of the uniquely attractive aspects of Spock is that it combines Machine Search with Human Interaction to add, update & validate content, in a Wiki-like fashion. Good behavior is rewarded and bad behavior is penalized through an innovative concept: ‘Spock Power’.

Users’ contributions are recognised on a ‘Leader Board’, encouraging more participation, by introducing an element of ‘reward’, as users vie for recognition. This is known as ‘gamification’ – and  is something I predict will catch on and end up being widely adopted by Web 2.0 sites, Social Networks and other applications on the Internet.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 10th, 2008 at 6:00 pm

20 Responses to “Connections #021 – Spock – The People Search Engine”

  1. Yoshua Daely Says: February 10th, 2008 at 10:41 pm – Hi Stan, Friendly speaking, its really interesting and great interview. I will promote and share with other Spock members this news. Regards, Yoshua Bali Island
  2. Louise M. Kidney Says: February 11th, 2008 at 4:15 am – Hi Jay, When I first read about this beta software in the Victoria Times paper – (online) I knew I just had to go try it out. The name SPOCK caught my attention. Now, through The Connections Show I’ve learned what it’s all about. Hi Stan, Great podcast, again!!!! Keep them coming.
  3. Ehab Elagaty Says: February 11th, 2008 at 1:29 pm – Thanks Stan & Jay, It sure is very interesting, I am glad that I know now what SPOCK means. I have signed up on it a while ago and never paid attention to the invitations I got from friend to connect on it. I was surprised myself when I just logged back in to look at the information there is about me there. It was kind of like doing a Google search on my name. Ehab
  4. Kenneth Udut Says: February 11th, 2008 at 11:29 pm – You’ve been dugg!!
  5. Mike Cadogan Says: February 12th, 2008 at 11:42 am – Once again another great podcast. Stan Relihan manages again to ask the searching questions which help us to understand the principles behind, and reasons for social and professional networking tool. This interview assists the listener to understand the principles behind SPOCK as a ‘people search engine’, the power of the engine, and the direction in which it is headed. Thank you Jay and Stan for an insightful peek behind the scenes of what will prove to be the ultimate knowledge portal for ‘people information’ in the future. Mike
  6. Christian Aspegrén Says: February 13th, 2008 at 3:17 am – You have managed to create a very useful podcast. I have as well received several invitations to Spock and I have not paid much attention to them. Now that I know what it is all about my curiosity has been awakened. I believe it is necessary for me to join and I will recommend this route to insight for many other contacts as well. Christian
  7. Praveen Says: February 13th, 2008 at 8:35 pm – Oh, great Acronym………… Wish you best of luck. Cheers Praveen
  8. Srinivas Says: February 13th, 2008 at 8:51 pm – Hi Stan, Interesting. Now, when I want to find people and also discover what they’re up to on the Internet, I’m going to go to S P O C K first! Srinivas
  9. Glen McFarlane Says: February 14th, 2008 at 8:03 am – G’day Stan See, that’s why I love your show so much. Within 20 minutes, I know everything I need to know about the topic. I joined Spock last year and did the profile thing, thinking it was another Social Network like LinkedIn, etc. Now I know what it really is – and I’m putting in effort in line with with Jay and his team are really looking to achieve. Thanks again Glen McFarlane
  10. Paul van Oppen Says: February 14th, 2008 at 10:48 am – Stan, Great link! I enjoyed the interview with Jay. At the same time I took a stab at spock.com and am somewhat amazed. At first sight it feels like a lot of fun and I will explore further to see where it can provide value for me. In any case, thanks for the heads-up. I also felt that your interview with Jay was pleasant to listen to, very informative and of the right length. Kind regards, Paul
  11. resaldo Says: February 14th, 2008 at 2:38 pm – Hello Stan, Thanks for information update. Now I know the acronym of SPOCK (Single Point Of Contact by Keypoint). Well, its a nice interview with Jay. It actually simplify people search with a digested information. More power to Spock…God Bless Us All…. Resaldo Philippines
  12. Akesh Bhatnagar Says: February 14th, 2008 at 2:41 pm – Dear Stan, I totally agree with Glen’s earlier comment; The interview was Precise & highly Informative. Thank you, Akesh Bhatnagar.
  13. Abhishek Chamaria Says: February 14th, 2008 at 4:11 pm – Hi Stan, I have been using Spock for over a month now and its part of our Stan dard hiring process to run the candidates name through spock. If I get multiple people, adding the company name or his/her school/ college’s name as a keyword helps me zero in on the candidate. I must say that I am happy with the decrease in “Googling” + “checking LinkedIn, Facebook, Orkut etc that I need to do. To me Spock has been a way of getting my basic background checks done faster and more conveniently. Regards, Abhishek Chamaria Head Operation & HR, Brainwave
  14. Terri Devlin Says: February 15th, 2008 at 4:49 am – Hi Stan, Thanks so much for letting me know about the Spock podcast. I enjoyed hearing about Spock and tried it out immediately. The interview was informative and interesting. Keep up the great work! Terri
  15. George Maciver Says: February 16th, 2008 at 5:12 am – Ah, so that’s what SPOCK’s all about. I must admit, I WAS wondering. Great interview!
  16. Michael Pickering Says: February 19th, 2008 at 2:07 am – Hi Stan, Another great popcast. I had signed up for Spock a while ago but had not used it since. After your interview with Jay, I checked again and feel this is going to be a good tool to use. Looking forward to the next show. Regards Michael Pickering
  17. Caryl Alfaro Says: February 19th, 2008 at 6:51 am – Hi Stan :Thanks for the clarification, Jay – Spock is a Search Engine (with Wikipedia tools) for People – NOT a Social Network- a very clear distinction. Spock Power!!!–the Vulcans would be pleased:) Stan, another great show and speaker…. Keep up the good work. Caryl
  18. Bruce Tracy Says: February 22nd, 2008 at 3:44 am – Excellent show…Really cleared up for me why I need Spock (sorry, I was never a Trekkie – just a Techie) and I can play your podcasts while I’m working. Can’t poke around the website while I work, though. Thanks. Bruce Tracy
  19. Kathie Thomas, A Clayton’s Secretary Says: February 22nd, 2008 at 3:22 pm – Like many others I was thinking ‘here’s another network’ and I really don’t have time to keep inviting people to join one, then another, then another, so kept LinkedIn as my main business network and decline most other invitations, including ones for Spock. However, Stan suggested I should revisit it and after listening to this podcast I realise now that it is quite a different tool and have been building up my profile and adding to what others had already created on my behalf. Thanks for sharing how it works here.
  20. Ronald Wopereis Says: June 24th, 2008 at 7:11 am – great podcast once again Stan ! website above is my spock profile best regards, and keep them podcasts coming Ron

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