Over the years we have seen a handful of social networking sites come to the table, including a few attempts in the past by Google, and each time a new social networking site pops up there are questions as to whether or not the current contenders will be able to hang on until the end of the fight.
The social networking frenzi began with Myspace, which pretty much died off when Facebook started to become popular, and then out of the blue along came Twitter, which really never did become nearly as popular as Facebook, and in between those few futile attempts of Google’s, and probably a few others along the way. And now Google is making the attempt once again with Google Plus but this time it seems they may be on their way to being the next new big thing in social networking already, and they are not even allowing the general public to sign up yet.
So far, Google has only invited certain individuals to try out the social networking site and already there are millions of users throughout the world. So the question is what is going to happen to other social networking sites when Google Plus is 100 percent launched, namely Twitter, as it is the lesser of the popular social networking sites now? Nobody really knows yet but what we do know about are some of the features that Google Plus will be offering that Twitter doesn’t have.
Circles of Friends
One thing that Twitter cannot claim they have, and neither can Facebook, is a feature similar to the new Google Plus Circles. Sure, you can have friends on both Facebook and Twitter, and you can even post updates on those social networking sites that your friends can see but Google Plus’s similar feature is far superior. With Google Plus you have the additional option of keeping groups of friends, and other type of contacts such as family and colleagues, separate from each other. This will allow users to keep their personal life from their co-workers, and the updates made for friends’ eyes only out of the sights of family. And best of all, it is actually quite simple to use. Switching friends from one group to another is as easy as dragging their name to a new circle, and posting to a specific group isn’t difficult either. Twitter definitely does not compare in this sense.
Portable Hangouts
Another great feature that Google Plus is boasting that Twitter doesn’t have is a portable Hangout feature that allows user to video chat with other users. While this may not seem like the amazing feature it is upon first inspection, when users realize the benefits of it there is a good chance that a lot of them will be spending a lot more time with Google Plus. This is not your average video chat platform because you can update friends that you are hanging out at any given time and any of your social networking friends can join you at any time, regardless of how many. And the best part is, whoever is doing most of the talking will be the participant that the video is focused on.
In order for Twitter to even think about competing with Google Plus features such as these the site developers are going to have their work cut out for them, but Twitter was never really meant to be the ultimate social networking site anyway. They may have to step up and launch an aggressive campaign to become more of a social networking site if Twitter is even going to have a chance of staying afloat once Google Plus comes out though.
Frederic, a freelance writer who writes about different web applications, pc antivirus, science, history, technology, antispyware, social media, hardware and software.
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It was interesting to have come to know about the comparisons. Some months back Google+ was the hot topic and for trial’s sake I tried using it for some days but as usual got back to facebook and twitter. I think most of us are habituated using the popular social networking sites that we tend to stick to it instead of spending more time exploring the plus points of the new competitors like Google+
Yeah, you are right. I too did somehow then but now back to Google+ because it makes sense to me than any other social sites…
Google Plus is just great. I am loving it.