Sunday 10 July 2011

Google Plus vs Facebook

Google+ and Facebook are both social networking sites that have their own special benefits. Here is a look at some of the different things you might find on these two sites. There are both positives and negatives involved with these two sites. There are big points that make these two sites different with a few similarities involved.



The first point to see involves the user interfaces that each site has. It is easy to get around either site. Facebook uses easy to handle panels on the side of the screen. These allow a user to move from one’s wall to one’s photos among many other things on a screen.




 Google+ uses an interface that is also easy to work with. This interface allows the user to move between different contacts on a site to help make it more attractive.
One Difference about the two Social networking site is that their posts come in different forms. Facebook posts all wall posts on one’s wall in a chronological order. Google+ does not use this feature. It only shows things that have been updated. This is convenient for keeping tabs on past messages but it does not necessarily put an emphasis on updates.



It is also easier to arrange friends on Google+ than Facebook. The problem that Facebook has with its friends listing is that it can be tough to organize things according to the favorites that one has. Google+, on the other hand, uses Circles. This is a feature that allows a person to arrange different people in different spaces that are devoted to certain contact groups.
One of the biggest cons of Google+ is that it does not use a search feature. Facebook does have a search function so facebook does have something that people can use to search through it. This is very ironic considering Google, Since it is such a popular name in the world for its online search engine only yet it does not have search integration in Google+.
A huge pro between both of these Social Networking site is that they have amazing and yet completely different features. Both of these Social Networking sites are easy to handle through all sorts of different features they have. Google+ has been made in such a way that inside it, we can easily access Gmail and few other functions that Google runs. In same way Facebook too has such feature, e.g we can easily send messages to others through Facebook.
However, the browser support is varied. Google+ can work well on the Google Chrome browser. Facebook needs to be supported with some add-ons to be completely compatible for different web browsers. It should not be too difficult to get an add-on set up though.

 

These features of Google+ and Facebook show how they are different and yet similar in some ways. Both Social Networking site use a variety of convenient features but have some drawbacks to them. Either way, it helps to compare these two options when finding something that works well for your social networking needs.

Google plus vs Facebook – My thoughts :

The pluses of Google+ over Facebook
  1. Google+ provides better privacy and well layered grouping – circles
  2. Google+ does not have annoying applications like facebook (may be yet)
  3. Google+ combines facebook and twitter together when the main features are concerned
  4. Google+ is simple and sweet – May be just because it new
  5. Google+ uses the google chat for chatting. It is much better than facebook chat



The minuses of Google+ over Facebook
  1. Google+ lacks some features that facebook has (Since it’s new and beta)
  2. Google+ does not have anything special for a typical facebook freak who does not care much about privacy
  3. Google+ does not have the own powerful branding as a social network (It’s a sub-product of google and not a mere social network brand like “facebook”) However, this is how it could be released because a unique branding is too weeker to compete facebook


 


ABOUT GAMES

It has been much talked about that Google has quietly invested a relatively large amount of money in the most popular and powerful social network game developer Zynga. The investment which is estimated to be between $100 to $200 million dollars was made by Google itself as part of its plan in getting into serious social gaming and apps strategy to counter the popularity of social networking site Facebook.

Zynga was apparently behind the success of Facebook and has turned this social networking site to what it is at present. It has been behind the most popular games such as Farmville and Mafia Wars that have captured the attention of millions and even encouraged non-Facebook users to register and log in just to play these games.
Zynga has started with $29 million several years ago and has successfully managed to increase it over the years. Tech blog Techcrunch even reported that it has almost reached half a billion by last year including a deal with Softbank.
Over the past few years, Zynga has managed to continue working on high level strategic business development deals that allows the rebuilding of a massive social graph which is currently controlled by Facebook at present and this is the same reason which makes it very attractive to companies such as Yahoo and Google who also wants the same success and popularity.

Zynga will apparently be Google’s cornerstone for its Google Games that will be launched by the end of this year. Zynga intends to give Google a true social graph that will highly encourage users to log-in and play its games. It will also not be surprising if Paypal will be replacing Google Checkout as the primary payment option since Zynga is Paypal’s biggest customer.
But neither Zynga nor Google had confirmed if the said deal really transpired between them. This partnership will suppose to bring Google off the ground in terms of social gaming. Zynga has also expressed some dissatisfaction with the terms being implemented by Facebook at present and rumored to be looking for alternative platforms. In fact, it has already collaborated with Yahoo and MSN and its collaboration with Google is rumored to be a bigger one.
Aside from this, Google has also bought Slide.com for around $182 million just recently. Slide was founded by Paypal’s co-founder Max Lechvin and currently makes widgets to help people to express themselves. It enables users to create and personalize widgets which they can use on social networks as well as blogs.
Google seems to be really serious in getting into social gaming with its recent purchase of Slide.com as well as its investment with Zynga. Definitely Google is making some serious move and trying to follow or even counter the popularity of Facebook. This partnership is definitely something big to look forward to.