Google Plus vs Facebook
Social networking is currently one of the best ways to reach millions of internet users. This also serves as a platform to deliver advertising to those users, which is the way many free internet sites earn their money. In this area, there are two notable names, Facebook and Google Plus. The biggest difference between the two is prominence. Facebook may not be the first social networking site, but it is certainly the biggest. With more than half a billion subscribers worldwide, they have a commanding lead over all other sites, including Google Plus with just its few million subscribers.
Although Google Plus may not be in the lead mainly because they are quite late in the game, their biggest advantage is being part of Google, a huge company with the clout and ability to push new things to consumers. Their presence in computers as well as smartphones with their Android OS, may give them a significant edge in the future.
Many of the same features exist in both social networks. You can upload photos, post your thoughts, send messages, and even video chat. But the most significant functionality difference between Google Plus and Facebook is circles. This feature allows Google Plus users to put their friends in circles or groups. This gives the user better control on who can see or interact with the things that they post. Facebook can also group your friends, but with a lot less flexibility than Google Plus allow. Circles also have some implications to how group messaging is implemented. In Facebook, you need to establish a group, appoint admins, and invite members in order to start sending group messages. In Google Plus, you just assign friends to a circle and you can already send those friends group messages; same results, a lot less hassle.
The fate of Facebook and Google Plus is yet to be decided, with a lot of factors playing their parts. Right now, Google Plus needs to attract more of Facebook’s users and Facebook needs to stop peeving off their users.
Summary:
- Facebook is a much larger social network than Google Plus
- Google Plus has the backing of Google while Facebook does not
- Google Plus lets you put friends in circles while Facebook does not
- Group messaging is easier in Google Plus than in Facebook