Google’s had a big week with the launch of their new social networking tool, Google+. All in all, it seems that the majority of reviews I’ve heard have been positive. For those of you who want to cut through the fluff, I thought I’d sum up the differences for you.
*If you’re an avid user of Facebook and Twitter, you can skip over the next two paragraphs.
How does Google+ differ from Facebook or Twitter?
Facebook allows members to connect with friends or acquaintances as long as they accept your connection request. All of your contacts are thrown into one big list. You post status updates that everyone can see. Therefore, many Facebook users restrict their Facebook friends to those people whom they actually know. Most Facebook updates and photos tend to be more personal in nature than those we see in competing social networks.
Twitter is a networking tool that focuses more on your interests, hobbies, and whereabouts other than connecting
with people you already know. If you’re interested in candle making, you may choose to “follow” other candle makers who have valuable information to share. With Twitter, you don’t have to wait for approval to be connected. You follow who you want, and they follow you. All of your tweets are public to anyone who’s following you assuming you’re in the majority who doesn’t have their profile set to private. On Twitter, you follow anyone who’s opinions you value. This might include your favorite writer, CEO of the company you work for, or your brother. Possibly the most valuable use for Twitter is in the way that you’re able to connect with other people and information in the same geographical location. If you’re attending an event, you can see what other people are tweeting about a speaker that’s on stage or a football play. Your Twitter community is likely to be much larger than your Facebook community. It’s more public and probably full of people you’ve never actually met. This makes for a very busy “noisy” environment.
Enter Google+. It appears that Google has set out to create a networking tool that combines the best of Twitter, Facebook and even Linkedin. Here’s what they’re doing differently:
- Targeted Sharing with Circles – Connect with people you know (like Facebook) and don’t know (like Twitter), but you can keep them separated in groups or “circles.” Easily drag new contacts to different circles depending on the type of information you want them to be able to see. For instance, you can set up a circle for Family, Friends, Colleagues, Business Contacts, Candle Makers, etc. When you want to share a message or a photo, you can share it with only a circle or two or everyone. For example:
• Who’s coming to Thanksgiving dinner? – Family Only
• Just found this new candle supply store – Candle Making Community
• My company was just featured in Entrepreneur magazine – Everyone
- Your contacts don’t have to be Google users. Although something like 25% of the entire world is on Facebook, there are still some people who aren’t. Therefore, if you’re sending an event invite through the FB system, you’re still excluding those non-users. With Google, you can connect anyone to your circles. My parents both use Yahoo, so they’re in my family circle. When I post a message to Google+ for my family to see, I can also check a box next to the post button that will send my parents an email with that message to their Yahoo accounts as well.
- Group Video Chat – The “hangouts” feature supports up to 10 users on a video chat. With more and more businesses and families looking to the web to collaborate and stay in touch, this can be a very valuable feature for those who choose to use it.
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