
Social networking is a common practice amongst people of all ages today. Facebook has been the most recognized site with the largest number of members for quite some time. This past summer, Google+ entered the picture and made it their mission to create the largest social networking site around. Google, being the most popular search engine site, was said to blow its competitor Facebook right out of the water. It seems like now though Facebook is not only staying afloat, but Google+ is the website that is sinking.
The layout of Google+ is nearly identical to that of Facebook, which makes some wonder what it even has to offer that Facebook doesn’t. Google+ makes you separate your friends into circles, making it easier to hide things from co-workers and parents if desired. The Facebook grouping option is more of a way to communicate with certain groups of people, instead of keeping them in the dark.
Facebook is a place for people of all ages. By making Google+ exclusively invite only and ages 18 and up, this discouraged a lot of people from trying to join. Also, since there are so many people on Facebook now, they feel like they don’t need another social media website to be a member of. Adults who have been able to track down classmates from high school and college aren’t likely to just walk away from that, especially because it is probable that those people aren’t all going to have Google+ invites.
Facebook also has business pages, which allow members to connect with various companies, bands and celebrities. While this annoys some members, it is something that Google+ is lacking. Although you might not want to see advertisements on the side of your page all the time, occasionally you will see something that you are interested in. This is not an option through Google+.
Google offers a variety of games, but doesn’t quite have the selection that Facebook currently does. They introduced Angry Birds, Sudoku, Bejeweled, and Zynga Poker. By releasing Zynga Poker, that meant that Facebook wasn’t the only social network with Zynga games on their site. Cityville and Farmville are two Zynga games that are exclusive to Facebook, which are incredibly popular. After Facebook heard that more games were going to come out on Google+, they tweaked their gaming platform and decided to provide a separate stream that allows the people who play games to see their high scores and the games that their friends are playing.
Google+ also strictly enforces their rule of no pseudonyms. Some people want to use pseudonyms to protect their identity on the internet. Other people feel as though their name is too long, and some have nicknames that they would prefer to be recognized as. If people want to be called by a certain name, they feel as though they have that right. And if it’s a problem, they are likely to go elsewhere where it isn’t an issue.
A major downfall of Google+ is the lack of users. Sure, they had 25 million within the first month of starting. And sure, that’s a big number. But when you look at Facebook’s 750 million users, it doesn’t even compare. Google+ decided that they were going to have a “field trial period” in which one could only become a member if invited. A lot of people, even if they were invited and do have an account with Google+, don’t use it. They say it’s because no one would really see what they have to say and because they like the diversity and variety of people found on Facebook. Many people are still continuing to use their Facebook accounts even when they are also a member of Google+.
People feel comfortable with Facebook. It is not something they are willing to walk away from completely. More often than not, there are pictures that don’t belong to a member but in which they are tagged in. If they want this picture and the rest of their pictures, they have to take the time and energy to transfer them to Google+ or their computer so that they are not lost forever. This alone helps people to stick around, just because the idea of starting everything all over again just to network socially is overwhelming.
When Google+ came on the scene a few months ago, they planned on becoming more popular than Facebook. But all this competition and added stress has just made Facebook excel. They are improving and adding things to their site, and staying on top of their game. Facebook does not seem willing to go down without a fight, and with their loyal customer base, it would take something drastic and completely different for Google+ to create in order to overpower them.
Jessica Gallman
Bensur Creative Marketing Intern