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The new "followers" feature on Google's Blogger, which turns the blogging service into a quasi-social network, may strike some as too little, too late — a me-too move following WordPress and Movable Type's adddition of social elements. But it didn't have to happen. Blogger had a full-fledged social network in the works years ago, called Profiles — and it was quashed by Marissa Mayer in favor of Orkut. Why? Mayer's own social network.

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how often Mayer, Buyukokkten, and their respective boyfriends turn up at social events together. Whatever the motivation for it, Mayer's decision to favor her friend's site turned out poorly. She's still talking about how Orkut is inexplicably big in Brazil and India — and nowhere else. Blogger development, meanwhile, remained stalled for years, wasting the site's early lead in blogging. Yes, Google's late to the social-networking game — and it's Google's own fault. (Photo of Mayer and Buyukkokten by Damion Matthews)