I love Google products. I grabbed a Gmail account when it was still invite only. I use Google Apps for my photography business. I was able to convince the leadership at my church to switch to Google Apps including Google Docs.
Google has had some flubs along the way (Google Wave is a perfect example) but for the most part, Google has put together great products at great prices (many are free). There were a ton of stories in June saying Google was creating a social media platform (bigger that Buzz) to compete with Facebook.
So will it?
With a membership that boasts more than 500 million people and a brand that nearly defines social media, Facebook will not go down easily. However, if there is an opening Google can exploit, is undoubtedly the concern many have about Facebook’s protection of user privacy.
Even with their newly released ‘Places’ feature, Facebook is not escaping criticism of their privacy policies.
When this rumor first surfaced, Leo Laporte was discussing it on This Week In Tech and he made the following statement (I’m paraphrasing):
“When Facebook adds features, it’s ultimate goal is to benefit Facebook. Google creates products that will be benefit them but it’s more about the community with their products.”
Do you agree with that?
Personally, I do. Facebook makes it extremely tedious (not necessarily hard) to change privacy settings. There are different settings in different areas and so many of the features have just added noise to the newsfeed rather than value.
I’m looking forward to an alternative.
Thoughts?
[Images from dullhunk, opensourceway]
Paul Steinbrueck says
The problem Google and every other social network developer has is that people are not going to jump ship from Facebook or spend time on another social network just because it’s better. Facebook has a huge trump card, that being “all my friends are already there.”
You could make the case that FriendFeed and Google Buzz are in some ways better than Facebook, but they both bombed because they aren’t different enough from Facebook to make it worthwhile for the entire planet to make the shift. That’s my take anyway.
JayCaruso says
Good points. Facebook has seemingly cornered the market but I remember it was only about 2.5 years ago that I was trying to convince friends to move from MySpace over to Facebook and many didn’t want to.
My big concern about ‘Google Me’ is whether or not Google is rushing to get this out thereby putting them at even a larger disadvantage. It has to be rolled out in a way that allows people to just go sign up and not have to deal with invites.
Phillip Gibb says
Have they not been rolling components out under our noses; trying things out, with Google Wave and Buzz?
Tim Owens says
I think people seem to give Google way too much credit because they do a lot of talking about “openness”, “do no evil”, etc. But honestly the last company I’d trust any more than Facebook would be the one that is driving around in cars with cameras attached taking pictures of streets, peoples, storefronts, etc and posting them to the web. I’m not a crazy psycho conspiracy nut but at some point you have to step back and say “wait a minute…this is cool and all but….”
After Wave and Buzz Google is like M. Night Shamylan to me. Crashed and burned so often recently It’ll take one heck of a comeback to win me over.
Phillip Gibb says
I believe that Google has generated a great culture in the interwebs – that it is all about empowering the community and making tools that help everyone. Just as Leo Laporte says.
Facebook has a huge following, in spite of privacy issues, Facebook will continue to grow. And like you say it is tedious to adjust privacy settings – imagine you want to add 100 friends of your 5000 to a specific list with unique privacy settings, hmmm.
Maybe there is a market for Friend management Software.
Google will most likely look to make it easier for users, I am not sure how. But one thing is for certain is that they have the biggest launch platform of note. So the uptake will be quick. I will be amongst the first, if possible. – Even though they can’t seem to stop deleting my profile picture from my Google Account.
Joel Cheuoua says
Interesting thoughts. I love Google too. I was one of the first to hail Google Waves – I have an excuse: I’m a developer and I love great technology.
I however think too that It’s not really fair to depict Facebook as the evil big brother and Google as the champion of our privacies.
For one, there was actually *more* privacy issues with Google Buzz than with Facebook.
Second, Facebook features and policies are, I totally agree, made to benefit Facebook. But I do believe them when they say that the best way for them to benefit from their feature is to make their users happy.
Facebook is more than just a product now. It’s a movement, just like Google was when they took over the web and defied all the former established giants such as Microsoft, Yahoo or other companies.
And that’s precisely why Google is worried. That’s why they are attempting to use all their brand power to slow down Facebook ascension. That’s why they rush to deliver services that’ll make people pause to go “en masse” the Facebook way. They know that if they don’t do it quick, Facebook will be unstoppable (it might already be the case), and they’ll be the next Microsoft.
So I’m not certain which one of these two has most the interest of end users in mind. You know I think they both probably do. But ultimately they’re companies, not charities. They do this thing for business reasons and motivations first. Fair or not, It’s up to anyone to decide whether they get more value from one service or another.
Interestingly enough, Microsoft tried to slow down Google by going on their turf for the same kind of reason, and guess what ? they’re still trying (c.f. Bing). It’s going to be interesting to see what type of lessons Google is drawing from that and if they think that they can do better than Microsoft at slowing down a potential new rival?
Anyway … I would’t worry for either companies. Microsoft is still around, Google is doing great, and Facebook is on a roll.