Google joins social network market
July 27, 2011 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
When it’s not outpacing Bing in search engine traffic, surpassing Apple in smartphone activations or providing millions with the pleasures of YouTube, Google ‘s next project poses a serious threat to beloved social network giant Facebook.
Launched June 28, the initial reception for Google+ as the anti-Facebook has been the subject for heated debates across media outlets and tech blogs.
Despite its invitation-based exclusivity, similar to Gmail’s original induction process, Google+ currently boasts more than 10 million users, according to The Chicago Tribune.
Although Mark Zuckerberg, president and CEO of Facebook, believes “independent entrepreneurs will always do better than companies trying to do a million things,” Zuckerberg is among the early adopters welcoming Google’s social utopia.
“I feel Facebook is getting old mainly because there is nothing innovative about it,” said Bridgette Montgomery, junior English major and veteran Facebook subscriber. “The original design was simplistic and easy to use. Modifications throughout the years made it visually busy and annoyingly complex.”
While total Google+ subscriptions only amount to a fraction of Facebook’s staggering 750 million users, Google’s unprecedented growth and popularity could signify a shift in social networking tides.
Pertaining to familiarity, Google’s ditches the blue “like” thumb in favor of a more colorful “+1″ button. Scheduled to be embedded in countless websites within the following months, the “+1″ icon will streamline content sharing among Google+ members and rebrand what it means to “like” something.
Similar in theory yet different in practice, Google intends to rise above social network norms by implementing “+1″ hits within search results. Hence, when a member performs a Google search, he/she will quickly view the links friends or family preferred based on “+1′s.”
Building on inspiration, Google+ is introducing revolutionary features such as “Circles.” In essence, users can categorize friends into groups, and thus, members can separate their public, personal and business relationships within the same medium.
Effortlessly obliterating Facebook’s recent Skype integration, which allows for one-to-one video calling, Google “Hangouts” enable video conferencing with up to 20 people. Friends can easily view who is conferring in real-time, and if vacancies are available, then they are able to join the party through the click of a button.
Additionally, Google’s “Sparks” encourages subscribers to discover and share stimulating content. Without the need to resort to external websites, members can enter their interests and Google+ will deliver relevant links which can then be distributed among “Circles.” By showcasing one’s interests with others, Google hopes to “spark” meaningful conversations.
So are people witnessing the rise of the Facebook-killer?
“It has great potential, but it has a long ways to go,” said Norma Martinez, sociology graduate and current nursing student. “I enjoy the categorization system, but since it’s invite only, many of my friends aren’t in the network yet. Some of its features require adjusting to and the current interface isn’t necessarily user-friendly. It will take some time to truly appreciate its capabilities.”
Jerry Aldaz may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.
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