Article 2: Comparing Google+ To Facebook

 

Everyone has heard of Facebook - a social media site that has revolutionized how people connect and communicate online with family and friends. The website has gained international success and the CEO Mark Zuckerberg has become a household name.  It seems that the site's ability to bring people together to share their lives in a digital space fulfilled an unmet need online.  Now, businesses around the world flock to Facebook to see if they can get some "face time" with users.

As Facebook has grown over the years, so too the amount of user-created content contained within its network.  Facebook currently sits on a goldmine of social content that makes Google envious. Google has crafted a reputation of being a forward thinking dominator of the online world, so it's no surprise that the company does not want to fall short in the social space.  It was all just a matter of time until Google decided to develop its own social networking platform - Google+.

The question on everyone's mind is if Google+ will be able to gain followers.  What will set it apart from Facebook and make users want to switch platforms?  These are great questions that needs answering and this article will attempt to clarify what sets these two social networking sites apart.

 

How is Google + Different From Facebook?

Ability To Deliver Relevant Content
The main difference that we've found between Facebook and Google + is Google's ability to deliver its users relevant content. 

Google has always been dedicated to delivering its customers relevant content in an easy fashion and it has continued that tradition with the advent of Sparks.. 

Sparks is a tool in Google+ that allows users to sign up to receive feeds on a particular topic of interest. The idea is that these feeds will deliver keyword relevant articles, blogs, video clips that will help to "spark" a conversation.

Google's ability to agregate data from their other products, such as Google Buzz, Google Blogs or YouTube, allows them to collect and stream many forms of content to their users - creating a very unique user experience.

Combine this delivery of relevant content with Google's new "+1" marking button and you have a recipe to make web-content social as well.

 

Uses Of +1 Tag
Google's "+1" button acts much like Facebook's "Like" button but with one main difference.  When Google users mark a page as "+1" they are putting their recommendation on it.  Google sees this recommendation as valuable to its users, so it then pushes any marked "+1" tagged content and exposes it to the user's contacts..  By integrating the "+1" recommendations into their search results, Google has now made a typical search engine search more social in nature. 

 

Video Chat
Google+ offers users the chance to video chat with up to 10 friends, allowing multiple users to converse with one another at the same time.

Facebook does offer a similar feature through its partnership with Skype, but users must be signed into a Skype account to use it, making Google+'s system more seamless and appealing.

 

 

 

 

Integration
Remember how we were talking about how the Google "+1" button integrates into their search tool?  Well, the Google+ system does a great job at integrating into many of Google's current products, including: Gmail, Calendar, Document, etc. 

In fact, any Android phone (and soon iPhone as well) also seamlessly integrates with Google+, allowing photos to be automatically uploaded onto the Google+ site without the need of downloading.  The photos are uploaded through a cloud and stored there until the user wishes to publish them.  Fantastic integration.

 

Google will surely set itself apart from Facebook in many ways, but the question is, will people adopt this new platform.  It seems that many individuals are excited about the new platform, with 20 million checking out the system within the first month of the field trial.  It's all a question of will these individuals start embracing the system.  Time will tell.

In our next article we will take a look at what marketing opportunities Google+ presents to businesses and landlords.  How can you capitalize on Google+.  Visit us tomorrow for the release of "Marketing With Google+".

On a final note, Google + is in the beta phase of testing, which means that its platform is not available to the general public. In order to get in to use the system you need to be invited by someone who is already in.  If you're a landlord who's interested in testing this new system, simply contact us and we'll invite you in.

 

Be sure to read the other articles in the series.

Article 1: What Is Google+

 

Also, be sure to check out Carissa's blog on:

Social Networking: Circles Sets Google+ Apart From Facebook