Is Google+ The Next Big Thing In Social Media? And Could It Be A Rival To Facebook??
Posted by Patrick Murphy on Thu, Jun 30, 2011
Social media day is here and it coincides with the tidal wave of buzz about Google’s huge announcement yesterday, when they launched Google+ (or Google Plus) – its much touted and speculated about version of a social network. Speculation is rife about whether this will prove to be a true rival to Facebook.
There have been numerous attempts by Google in the past to break into the social networking space – for example Google Wave and Google Buzz, which launched with much hype but ended up falling flat – particularly with Google wave, users just couldn’t see the point of the platform or figure out what they were supposed to do.
Google rolled out its +1 button in recent months, so users knew that big changes were coming. The +1 button appears beside search results, and you can use these to recommend results over others, and Google will also use this information to tailor results to suit you. Since social sharing is the big trend, what’s better than sharing web pages through search results?
How Does Google+ Social Media Work?
You will need a Google account to use the new social networking platform- another way for Google to gather your data and commit you to Google services. Google+ is being rolled out slowly, and invites are like gold dust right now. Indeed, if a curious user logs on to the site, they are informed that the site is over capacity and they’ll have a wait a little longer. You can leave your details and will be contacted when more invites are available. Early reviews say that the site is actually visually similar to Facebook, and utilizes streaming feeds and the ability to group friends together. There are five different ideas involved in the network: Circles, Sparks, Hangouts, Instant Uploads and the Huddle. Your circles will allow you to group certain people together, and share updates with only those groups if you wish. “Hangouts” involves live group video chats, aiming to make video conferencing more of a casual event. The instant uploads feature means that your phone pictures and videos will automatically go to a private album, and later you can decide with whom and when you want to share it. Huddle facilitates group chat through mobile devices.
The Next Big Thing In Social Media?
So what does this latest offering from Google mean for the social media universe? We think it is far too early to tell – and rolling out the platform so slowly is not a great idea, in our opinion. While the buzz is hot, people want to get stuck in and try it out. Limiting the amount of users could stifle user growth at the wrong time. In terms of functionality, the platform is far more promising than the likes of Google Wave or Buzz, and we can’t wait to give it a try.
Have you used Google+ yet? What did you think? And what sort of an impact do you think it will have on its rivals like Facebook?