Facebook vs. Google: Who Will Win?
Facebook is now officially a public company, scads of new millionaires are on a Silicon Valley spending spree, and media outlets near and far have yet to pipe down about the IPO, likely one of the most anticipated in history.
But is the long-term viability and success of Facebook a slam dunk? You’d think so, considering 900 million people on the planet use the social network now valued at nearly $105 billion.
Not everybody thinks so.
The Telegraph’s Michael Deacon says he was once addicted to Facebook but now thinks its users hardly have anything to say on it compared with Twitter, which he calls “magnetic” because it “incessantly breaks and circulates news.” He even goes as far to say Facebook in a few years will “be as sad and lonely a ghost town as MySpace.”
I wouldn’t go quite that far, but he makes some valid points. Many people have grown tired of Facebook and do prefer alternate social networks, such as Google+.
Google certainly is serious about social and it’s no secret that Facebook wants more of Google’s advertising, but who will come out on top?
Social Networking Rivalry
Yes, Facebook has a huge head start in social compared to Google, but Google+ users tend to be fiercely loyal because, honestly, it’s a great — albeit very different — product .
Unlike Facebook, Google+ is where you’re more likely to engage with strangers — many of whom reach out from countries around the world.
Just this morning I had a Google+ chat with a blogger from India who, even though he uses both Facebook and Google+, was only able to reach me through the latter where in seconds we were having a conversation about the merits of both social networks. Such contact wouldn’t have happened on Facebook because my Facebook friends are all in the U.S. and most of them know me personally, which means I keep my chat disabled because I don’t want people I haven’t seen in 20 years messaging me every time I check my stream.
Eric Norstrom, a molecular and cellular neurobiologist, is another person with whom I’ve connected through Google+.
Here’s how he aptly puts it:
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