Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The Social Network Part II-Fall of an empire!

It's finally here! And I am finally in it!Google has launched a potential Facebook killer in Google + and I think it's here to stay (at least until something else comes around).The most ironic thing is Google + seems to be getting some free publicity on it's rival Facebook.Everyone is posting about it,everyone is commenting about it,it seems to be the hottest buzz on Facebook.And rightly so.Google have given a lot of thought into this one and have come out with a brilliant product.

Not that Google has tried this before.It actually pioneered social networking with Orkut but soon was thrown out of the frame by Facebook.And it then came up with Google wave and Google buzz which frankly are not even worth a mention.But,now,it has come up with a real crowdpuller.Google + ,still in it's Beta version (for how long?will it be another Gmail?) has generated so much buzz that Google has temporarily suspended invitations (I found out a roundabout way on the net to signup but it seems Google has already blocked it).I think it deserves every bit of it.My very first impression impression of Google + was that it was refreshing.I was already getting sick of Facebook and now I have found a better alternative.Change is the only constant!Organizing your friends into different groups is a fantastic idea and this is what makes Google+ stand out against Facebook.Also,features like video chat,hangouts etc all add to it's appeal.That it integrates with your Gmail account,the most popular email service,is an added advantage.

What will be interesting to see is how the social networking empire,Facebook fights back.If Google has copied some of it's ideas ,then why not incorporate some of the Google + features on Facebook? And Facebook has to respond quickly.Once people start migrating to a new social networking site,even those people who wish to stay back are forced to migrate,since all their friends are gone.This is what happened to Orkut.Let's see if Facebook shares the same fate.Let the battle begin!!