GOOGLE+ MAY OVERRUN FACEBOOK

Common Networking Sites 

The number of people using social networking sites is vastly increasing in the present times. In the same way that social networking sites have also grown tremendously in number. Common networking sites that would always ring a bell are Facebook and Twitter. Facebook allows people to create and share statuses, upload photos and videos, chat and video call with friends and include timeline covers in the user’s profile. On the other hand, Twitter has become known for its “trending” and “following” features. Topics could be on “trending” if quite a number of people are tweeting about that certain matter. People could also be updated of all the activities and statuses of the celebrities, groups, or other people’s happenings whom they are following. Social networking sites have certainly influenced a number of people who are mostly into social media gatherings and have greatly achieved popularity.

Google+ and its Features

                Another newly launched networking site which is owned and operated by Google Inc. is the Google+. It has been started only a year ago, but it has already reached almost 400 million users and more than 100 million of which are active monthly.

                Google+ offers services such as circles, hangouts, and sparks. “Circles” allows users to organize their group of friends for sharing purposes. “Hangouts” facilitate group video chat. This is useful when discussing certain matters online, such as school projects and homework for students. This feature allows a group video chat with those who are Google+ members only. “Sparks” allows users to search and add topics that interest them or they might be interested in sharing with other people. Other features of this  multilingual social networking site are easy photo and video uploads, messenger, and games. It also includes a “hashtag” feature which is quite similar to Twitter’s  “trending” feature. There is also the “What’s Hot” Stream which shows what the majority of the users are thrilled about. Google+ acquires a lot of fun features and easy access whenever  one wants to limit his or her posts and activities from the public.

Google+ vs. Facebook

Google+ has been rumored to become a tough rival of Facebook, which is currently the networking site with the highest number of population. Since Google+ almost have every feature that is acquired by Facebook and in fact some Google+ features are more advanced than Facebook, it will not be a question if Google+ continues to increase in population as well. Although people are most likely used to using Facebook and switching to new social networking environment is a hassle, Facebook cannot really secure that Google+ may not overrun it. People might want to see the services offered by Google+ and the decisions as to which social networking site is better, and they would prefer are already up to the users. In the end, what would matter is the users preference, may it be on Twitter, Facebook or Google, the important thing is they were able to maximize and benefit from the features offered by these various sites.