Everyone’s blogging about it. Google’s attempt at taking over the social media world. Will it succeed? Will Facebook come to its knees? What can we expect? And the truth is: no one really knows at this point. But we all have our best guesses. With that in mind, I’m going to give you my two cents by attempting to answer a series of important (or so I think) questions.
Does Google Plus Spell “Doom” for Facebook?
Out of all the posts I’ve read, pretty much everyone who is anyone says “No!” In fact, some people think the battle has ended before it even began. It seems the opinion that’s most prevalent is that Google Plus isn’t really adding anything that new to the table. Therefore, it won’t be easy enough to get people to switch from Facebook. Many of these same people are singing the praises of Facebook–saying how its the end all be all.
Truth be told, Facebook has adapted well since its inception. And no one ever thought it would topple MySpace.
But isn’t that the point we’re overlooking? No one thought it would topple MySpace. And it did.
Here’s what I think: Facebook is scared. Don’t believe me? Check out Mark Zuckerberg’s picture on Google Plus. Sure he looks pissed. But I’m thinking that’s not just anger. That’s fear.
See, he knows a simple truth. Have you ever heard that saying, “Every empire must fall?” The Roman Empire…the Egyptian Empire…and then we have the United States. Well, I would compare the U.S. to Facebook. Most Americans are going about their day to day life, oblivious as to what’s really going on in the world around them. They have no clue what it’s like to live in a country where you never know if a bomb is going to go off in the bus on your way to work in the morning. As far as they’re concerned, we’re the most powerful country in the world and we always will be.
But is that what history shows us? No, history tells a different story. One where superpowers get fat and jolly and prideful. One where these superpowers end up falling. Is America really invincible? Not likely.
The same goes with Facebook. Now that soooooo many people are on Facebook, they see it as THE SOCIAL NETWORK (no pun intended). And in their mind, it will always be THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Because that’s human mentality, right? What we have now is always “the best ever” (anyone listen to Travis Rodgers? If so then you’ll catch that reference).
It’s shortsighted. Facebook’s time on top–how much longer can it really last? It can’t last forever. People in the know are just waiting to see who is going to take the mantle. Just like Facebook did it to MySpace. Just like MySpace did it to LiveJournal. Just like LiveJournal did it to Friendster. And MakeOutClub. And all those other social media networks from the good ol’ days.
(side note: were any of you on those old social media networks? I still have a LiveJournal account sitting stagnant)
Google Raises the Middle Finger to Facebook
There’s something big Google has done with Google Plus that I’m not seeing much talk about–including the option to stream your Facebook wall through Plus. While everyone’s busy arguing “why would anyone ever leave Facebook to start something new?” Google has basically answered it with “who said you gotta leave?” Meanwhile, they’re giving the middle finger to Zuckerberg.
For those in-betweeners, they’ve offered a compromise. Register for Google Plus and you can still see Facebook while you use it. GENIUS. Obviously the idea here has to be that while new users are streaming Facebook accounts through Google Plus, they’ll slowly be won over and eventually leave Facebook altogether. Sort of a weening off process.
Like nicotine patches. Or electronic cigarettes.
It reminds me of that old movie Miracle on 34th Street, where Santa starts sending customers to other stores when the one he was working at didn’t have what they were looking for. Well, it’s sort of like that anyway.
I’m Going on Record Here–Facebook is Going Down
Maybe I’m rambling a bit. But here it is in a nutshell. I’m not betting against Google. And I’m not going to blindly bow down and worship Facebook. Google Plus will be issuing the fatality. And I’m betting it will be sooner rather than later.
Your thoughts?
13 comments ↓
Your point about raising the middle finger with “stream your Facebook wall through Plus” makes me giggle a lot. Do you have any knowledge of why or how this works? Let me remind you … it’s called a public API, which Facebook has and Google doesn’t. Using Facebook’s public API, I could stream pretty much anything from Facebook into or onto anything. There’s talks about Google releasing an API for G+, and I’m betting the minute it comes out, people will be able to stream their G+ content, etc. into Facebook.
Also, all this talk about personal data, privacy, etc., that Facebook doesn’t respect. Again tied to the API. When Google launches their API, I can guarantee, you’ll start seeing news articles popping up about Google’s crappy privacy, etc.
Mark my words.
The Google+ and Facebook comparison is definitely a huge topic online. My take is that Google+ will need to do something really big to conquer Facebook, or Facebook will need to do something really stupid.
Google will need to appeal to the average Facebook user (not Internet Marketer, or webmasters, etc.). The average user is not looking to join another social network, unless it offers something that is completely different and unique. I don’t see Google+ offering such a solution.
Until Google comes up with such a solution, I don’t see Google+ issuing the fatality, not by a long shot.
@Paul
Fair enough. But I disagree. I think your thoughts are logical, but they are also pretty much what everyone else is thinking. I really think that mentality is exactly what will be the demise of Facebook.
As with anything else, interest comes and it goes. And even though Facebook is more popular than any other Social Network has ever been, including MySpace, “nothing gold can stay.”
We’ve seen this in all sorts of examples. Take America Online for instance. Who thought they would be obsolete? What about Apple–who thought they’d ever be back in the mix? Who thought Microsoft and Sony would be big boys in the video game system arena?
What about all the main search engines from yesteryear that no one even knows about anymore (*waves to metacrawler*).
How about film to VHS.. to DVD (keep thinking of Boogie Nights and the argument when they were going into the 80s about not switching to video tape)
I’m not saying that all of a sudden everyone’s going to drop Facebook and migrate over. But I do think it will happen eventually. Fatality-ing Facebook may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I definitely think they’re going to feel it where it hurts.
Maybe it won’t be Google Plus. But they have a good shot. And I wouldn’t bet against them.
@SocialMitch Maybe you’re right. I’m not saying Google Plus will be perfect. People will find things wrong with anything and everything… especially after “the takeover.” It’s like when a new president takes over and has a ton of hype but a year later everyone hates him.
@Chris There have been a lot of changes in technology over the years.
Many of the changes you mentioned were because the corporations that eventually succeeded offered something that consumers hadn’t seen before.
Apple had the iPods, and then the iPhones. They were one of the first companies to offer those technologies.
Sony and Microsoft are tops because their game systems were the best of the best, and they continued to add new features to their systems to try to one-up each other. There doesn’t seem to be any give there.
As for search engines, Google has been basically reinventing the search engine.
As for VHS and DVD, well VHS was sure to go away because of the move to digital, and DVD will follow because it isn’t HD. The same with film as many people like the ability to view their images, but there are some die-hard photographers that still use film.
All the examples had one thing in common: the new company/device that replaced the older ones had something new to offer that got people to change. They didn’t simply imitate.
For Google+ to succeed, Google can’t merely imitate Facebook, they will need to show what makes Google+ stand out.
It is Google, though, and I’m sure they have ideas in the works that will make Google+ stand out from Facebook.
@Paul You make good points. That said, I’m confident once Google gets past the beta test phase, we’re going to see a product that is not only better than Facebook, but is also constantly evolving to improve (much as Google is with their search algorithm).
i like google plus very much..
G+ is like a fb/twitter combo. I think after the beta more people will see that and it will gain momentum. Also having your social network outlet exist as a part of a greater Google browser suite, accesible from a single toolbar will eventually change things as well.
Its the simplicity and accessibility that will make this a prevalent system, especially amongst young professionals imo.
Btw good article.
@Cowanski I agree. It’s all about convenience. Thanks for giving your 2 cents!
[...] ← Google Plus Will Finally “Fatality” Facebook [...]
I do believe that Zuckerberg is not in the slightest bit concerned about the arrival of Google + since for one he seems to be making positive progress into China notwithstanding the mighty edifice of web presence he has with the geek-less, which I’m sure you’ll agree consists of about nine out of every ten internet users!
@pcd2k If he isn’t worried, it’s his mistake.
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