With Google+ arriving on the social media landscape with a bang (a big one at that) and collecting 25 million members in just a few months, we have a hunch that it’s going to give popular networking site, Facebook, a hard time. Now, you might say what is a mere 25 million compared to a whopping 700 million members Facebook has in its arsenal? But given the awesome advantages of G+ over other networking sites, it’s only a matter of time before this new kid on the block catches up. First off, there is an issue of trust; Google has been relatively trust worthy with protecting privacy compared to Facebook. Plus, Google is used more than Bing. With G+ being anticipated to be the next big thing, it’s safe to say that Facebook will have a hard time maintaining its supremacy.
So, what are the features of Google+ that have us hooked? Needless to mention, there are the “Circles”; groups you can create to to listen to and talk with. And then there are Hangouts where you can group chat on Cam. We can’t forget to mention its integration with Gmail and other Google products like Picasa. Oh! And the +1 feature is one big plus; you can +1 posts and websites, see the info you have +1’ed and see what others have +1’ed too! The fact that Google+ public streams have become searchable in real time is another advantage. And we like the fact that you have to be a “real person” and not a business entity to have a G+ profile.
There are some improvements (in our opinion) Google+ needs to make, though. It would be much better if we were able to follow new friends when we meet in a hangout without leaving the Hangout. Seeing trending topics and having a personalized domain link to G+ profiles (and not a bunch of random numbers) would make things better.
Given the positive circumstances, it wouldn’t be unsafe to jump unto the Google+ bandwagon. But if your goal is to create a business page to engage with your audience, sticking to Facebook would be a better option for now. However, it can’t be denied that Google+ is spreading around like wildfire and it is likely to give the likes of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other popular social media forums a tough competition. But considering the set of unique strengths and weaknesses each of these sites have, we can’t help but wonder, “Maybe it isn’t even a war!”
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