By Ginnia Cheng
Here at Johnson King, we take our tech very seriously – so seriously that it looks like I owe my colleague Ben (@BnRbrts) a £100 meal because of a tech-related bet I seem to have already lost.
When Google+ was released back in June, I was certain it was going to be a revolutionary success, while Ben was sure it would never take Facebook’s social media crown. After a lengthy and very heated debate, we decided to settle it – if Facebook remained the dominating force in the social network space, then I’d owe him a £100 dinner. But if Google+ makes a dent on Facebook’s industry domination, then he’d owe the dinner to me (we’d both just been promoted at this point so were feeling particularly rich!).
The release of Google+ drummed up an unprecedented level of hype in the social media world, and with what critics deemed as ‘killer’ features, such as Circles, Hangouts and Sparks, to me it looked like Google couldn’t go wrong . The other big ‘winning’ factor for me was that Google+ was really just a project, and the company were very keen on getting it right for their users – generally the biggest complaint about Facebook is that, due to its many years of market monopoly, it implements whatever changes it wants regardless of user feedback.
There was only one downside I could see – which Ben insisted would be an impossible barrier to break through, but which I was sure would be fixed with time – and this was the fact that everyone and all their friends were already on Facebook and would be reluctant to join another social network.
Unfortunately, as time went on, Google+ seemed to lose its momentum. As Google+ was invite-only for a longer period of time than expected, the only people that seemed to be joining Google+ were the tech-inclined. The only things people seemed to be posting on Google+ were about Google+ itself. Reports started coming in about how it was a flop, and even a Google engineer called Google+ a ‘complete failure’. Then came the news that Google was pulling the plug on its other social media ventures, Google Buzz and Google Wave. Many took this as a sign of things to come for Google+. Had I lost my bet?
To me this in no way signifies the end of Google+. Call me a Google fangirl, but I really do think Google will be pulling something out of its sleeve soon to drive momentum behind the service. Just because we’re not hearing about it 24/7 anymore, doesn’t mean it’s not being used – and recently, Britney Spears overtook Google’s CEO as the most-followed on Google+, which must be an indication that its userbase has grown from just the very tech-savvy to a wider audience of social networkers. Google+ adverts have popped up around London and on TV, which I never saw for Buzz or Wave. Usually advert-shy, the only other Google adverts have been for Chrome, and look how well Chrome is doing. Admittedly, Facebook’s never had to physically advertise anywhere – but it does have a seven-year head start and before Google+, was the only service of its kind available.
So for now, I refuse to accept that I’ve lost this bet. To me, it looks like Google’s just getting started with Google+, and at this point I’d say Ben and I are still even. What do you think – is Google+ the Facebook killer? Let us know here: http://twtpoll.com/tc7enx
Comments