During the last few days facebook rolled out some new features, adjustments and improvements or whatever they want to call it. For te ease of use lets just call it googleplusthings.
Wait! Before you leave because you think this is just another facebook bashing, google plus is better, fanboy post. It is not! Most of my social media contacts praise facebook’s latest adjustments and see great possibilities in it’s new features (subscribing, listing, googleplussing). Nevertheless there also are ‘experts’ who doom facebook for totally copying google+.
I have two points to add to this conversation. First I have to say that facebook does have some nice new features and ideas. In my opinion those are not the prominent featuring of lists or the stalkin subscribing though. Instead of those copy cat features I like the stuff that is, right now, facebook’s own.
on this day 1 year ago on facebook
Example? Sure. This little box appears once in a while and shows you what you posted on a very date exactly one year ago. Nice idea, nice implementation, fun for users. Well done!
Besides that facebook also added the ‘see how shared content’ feature. This is the first kind of google+ copy. Nevertheless facebook added some own ideas (i.e. showing how other people shared it – what they said about the content when sharing) which makes it at least a little more interesting and fun to use.
view shares on facebook
lists on facebook
Now having said that facebook does have a few nice ideas on it’s own, it obviously also steals many ideas from others (namely google+). Video chat, prominent listings, subscribing (following news without being friends).
I already mentioned in the intro that many of my social media contacts are happy with the new google plus like features on facebook. I am, on the other hand, not a big fan of the copied google way. Right now I am still using both networks. Google+ for networking, information gathering and all that stuff and facebook for friendly stuff. Seeing now that facebook turns more into google+ that leaves me sitting and asking myself: Do I really need two SIMILAR networks? Having different ones (that’s why twitter has nothing to fear) in use is not a problem and does not lead to any discussion, but having similar ones running does not sound reasonable to me. Right now I am not sure if facebook really should force the user to decide between google+ and facebook. They might think that they still have an advantage right now but copying a lot of stuff from a new player on the social media court does not look like a sound self esteem.
In my mind facebook should focus more on unique selling points. Going one on one with google might sound brave but is also kinda stupid, especially when this only works via copy and paste. Inventing own stuff and giving users a real improved interface and fun features might help a lot more than just implementing already existing features from google into the own platform.
Enough facebook bashing though! There is also enough space to bash Google. Actually they started the whole copy and paste stuff on the big screen when deciding to ‘copy’ a social network. Nevertheless you have to give them credit on doing it in their own way and via trial and error. And actually, Mr. Zuckerberg is the last person on earth (despite Mr. Guttenberg) who has a right to complain about copy cats.
Bottom line: I hate that social networks try to copy each other instead of using their man and brain power to invent new, unpredictable features and improvements. Right now everything is to predictable. I want my MTV and my exciting Social Media back! So please Google, Facebook, Tom and co….ignore ctrl+c and ctrl+v for the next couple of months….use ctrl+brain instead.
