Facebook vs. Google+: Which Social Network is Best?
Jan 19, 2012 04:17 PM EDT by Sean Captain, TechNewsDaily Managing Editor Posting
The status update is the raison d’être of social networks, and both Google+ and Facebook provide easy but powerful ways to share the right info with the right people. Each also offers its own special features.
The basic method is the same. Type something and/or click to select media, such as a photo. Then decide who sees it: Both networks make that easy with drop-down lists of friend groups that users have created. But Facebook allows posting to only one of those groups per update. Google+ allows showing posts to multiple friend Circles at the same time.
Google+ also provides more ways to customize a post. While both networks let users delete an update, Google+ also allows people to re-edit a post after it’s gone up. It also automatically shortens web links in posts to eliminate clutter. One click adds a link to videos from Google’s YouTube.
Facebook’s cool special features include allowing people, using the Timeline view, to tag an update as a specific life event, with icons such as “Family & Relationships” or “Travel & Experiences.” Facebook also allows users to say what friends are with them or somehow connected to the post—cool or creepy, depending on how friends feel about others posting about them.
Winner: Draw
The basic posting process is about the same for both networks. And each network’s special features balance out the other’s.
January 19th, 2012 at 4:38 pm
“But Facebook allows posting to only one of those groups per update.”
That’s not true. I post to multiple friend lists all the time. Just select “Custom” and you’ve got much more powerful add/remove list options than Google+.
January 20th, 2012 at 6:17 am
Wow was this article biased,… BTW did you take into account the fact that Facebook has official mobile apps available on every platform??? Because Google + doesn’t. Facebook should win just for that.
January 20th, 2012 at 9:49 am
Thanks for commenting.
Adam, thanks for the tip.
MarcVW, thanks for the input. Would you explain in more detail how you believe the article is biased?
January 22nd, 2012 at 11:29 pm
Good article. I find it hard to say that one platform is better than the other because that is not only a question about features and design. The kind of activity that is going on is also an important aspect of the “decision”. A few thoughts:
- Many people will use both Facebook and G+
- G+ and Facebook study eachother’s every move and it might very well be that they will end up looking more and more alike. Facebook’s implementation of the subscription feature is one example.
- I believe that people in a few years time will start asking questions about what they really are getting out of the many hours they spend on social networks. What’s the return on social networking hours so to speak. The winner will be the one that helps people get more value for money. I’m leaning towards G+ on this end.