Google+ vs. Facebook, who should you choose?
Having over 713.6 million active users, Facebook has been the top heavyweight in the social media and networking world for the past 5 years with almost little to no competition.
Their dominance is soon to be tested by their arch rival Google. While still in the testing process Google is now introducing what they feel can compete with Facebook by launching their own social networking experience known as Google Plus or simply Google +. Challenging Facebook for dominance is not an easy task as Google can already attest too with their failed Google Wave Social Networking site. But this time it seems Google is doing more right than wrong this time around.
If there is one thing people have complained about recently with Facebook is with Facebook privacy and the Facebook chat. With Google+ users will have a lot more control with who they add and how they want to group people. Google + has a feature that Facebook failed to create known as “Google Circle” . These are personal circles that are broken down into Family, Friends, Acquaintances, or whatever type of circle you would like to create.
What is great about these circles is the user will be able to post certain information such as photos or status updates for certain circles. For example if you are friends with a boss or co-worker and have photos of a party you threw you now have the ability to only show your personal friends in a specific circle those photos and group co workers will never know.
As you can see in the photo below I’m still at a lonely 3 friends =( , but only time will tell if this will change as Google Plus has now become the fastest growing social network ever!
The most interesting feature the Google + brings to the plate though is the Google video chat feature or as they like to call it the “Hangout”. With this feature you can now have a group of up to 10 people who could be your friends, business partners, or whoever you’d like within your circles and have a group video chat. The one cool feature about this video chat is when one person is speaking their face will appear on everyone’s screen until they are done speaking.
In light of the sparking interest in Google + and its innovative video chat it did not take long for the people at Facebook to make a move and improve their own Facebook chat feature. Earlier this month, Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg announced a Facebook and Skype deal where users will now be able to video chat through Facebook Skype integration. Here’s a quick screen shot of the new Facebook Chat with Skype if you have not tried it out yet.
So the question now becomes whose video chat is more effective. The winner right now is Google +. Currently with Facebook Video chat you can only talk up to one person at a time. As mentioned before with Google + you can chat with up to 10 people, which could really benefit businesses. While Facebook is in the talks of having group chats it may come at an expense for users, with Google + it is free.
Only time will tell if Google + will become the next big social network but it is safe to say it is already generating a lot of positive buzz around the techie world so it will be interesting to see if it takes off when it is fully laughed live. Personally, I find myself spending more time on Google + and I’m absolutely in love with the video chat feature. Facebook has not had to deal with competition like this for quite some time so this will do some good for Facebook. We at Shazzam Media are ready. So without further adieu…. Let the competition begin!
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