Facebook vs Google+: current status

So, what happened in the past 3 months?

  • Google+ got lots of signups because of the hype
  • Facebook copied all the cool features of Google+:
    • circles – facebook had lists, but they improved the UI and made it more visible. Now you choose whether your posts are public, or you want to target them at specific list
    • counting shares – sharing existed in facebook, but it didn’t count the number of shares. Now it does
    • subscribe – adds the non-reciprocal “friendship” concept from twitter and Google+.
    • video chat – only two people can participate though
  • Google are late with releasing their API – 3 months after the initial hype a rudimentary API appeared, but you can’t do much.

So, the end result? Facebook has everything that Google+ has, in addition to its huge user base and its API (which is far from perfect, but exists).

That doesn’t mean users should not use Google+. But the majority won’t. And facebook is obviously here to stay because it is adaptable.

2 comments

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  1. What if people simply get tired of Facebook and want something more niche-oriented?
    Personally, FB is getting old and predictable even with the Google+-like features.

      • Bozho on January 11, 2012 at 8:27 am
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      The whole purpose of facebook is “to stay connected”. And it does that in a decent way, mainly because “everybody is there”. So having a “very similar thing to facebook that has nobody” doesn’t sound enticing.

  1. […] they released a History API and Cool, they copied some of the remaining features of facebook, again. But I shouldn’t only flame them for copying things, I’d better suggest something. […]

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