Last week Google+ was made available to the general public after months of restricted access, which led to some calling the network Google-. On the same day, Facebook unveiled big changes to its News Feed, among other things. The two social networks are now competing for the public’s attention. Which should you subscribe to?
Tried and true, Facebook is the social networking, time-wasting website du jour. With over 750 million active members, most of your friends, family, and even professors likely have profiles. Additionally, your favourite bands, movies, and celebrities all have pages. Facebook helps you stalk all of these people with the News Feed, and the site has a great chat system as well. You can make groups, lists, pages, and events to help keep track of all of your friends in all of your different social groups.
Just last week, Facebook introduced several improvements to the News Feed. Now, your Feed goes with you everywhere on the site, where it sits just above the chat list. Additionally, your News Feed will be tailored based on how long you’ve been off Facebook. If you haven’t checked in for a few days, the top stories will cover that time frame. If you’re online more frequently, you’ll see more recent material. This helps you keep up with all of your friends, all the time.
With all of these personalization features, it’s no surprise that Facebook has been the target of recent concerns about personal information privacy. While the company has made it much easier to keep track of your privacy settings in recent updates, Facebook’s handling of personal information is a bit dubious and confusing for some users. Facebook is always changing, so the best way to avoid losing a job offer is to always be careful about what you do and don’t put on Facebook.
Google+
When it comes to social networks, Google+ is the new kid on the block. Google generated a lot of buzz a few months ago when it announced the project and launched a private beta. Despite all the excitement, last week’s public opening of the website flopped.
Google+ offers a number of features similar to those found on Facebook, like their version of a News Feed (called a Stream), and chat. Google+ also has a few things Facebook doesn’t, like Hangouts, which are slightly glorified Skype sessions.
Despite all the excitement about Google+ in July, the “social network” isn’t as social as it should be. Many people simply haven’t migrated over from Facebook; or they started to, but never actually set up a profile and added friends. The general mentality is if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and for many, Facebook just ain’t broke. Until Google+ gets more members, it’s a social network minus the network.
While Google+ hasn’t encountered the same privacy concerns as Facebook, it hasn’t been tested as thoroughly as Facebook, so there is no way to know if they really are handling your data better. One redeeming factor for Google+ is that your mom isn’t on it. Yet.
Winner
Facebook. It’s going to take a lot to unseat the king from its throne, and Google+ just doesn’t have what it takes yet. For social networks, many just follow their friends, and Facebook’s massive user base gives them the upper hand in this battle.
