Apparently, theres a lot of noise about
http://www.google.com/intl/en-US/+/demo/ <<< a new social networking site: Google+
To those of you who use social networking sites (or even those who dont), what do you think? It's still in beta-testing phase, but some people predict it could become HUGE super fast and PWN Facebook, just from namesake. (
http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gross-google-will-get-100-million-users-2011-7)
Personally, i've been slipping out of the scene. I deleted my Facebook recently when I realized that I totally don't care about what anybody else is doing.
I think social networking sites as a whole are going to suffer a sharp decline in the next 2 or 3 years. Maybe not right away, but unexpectedly, I think a lot of people will just lose interest. Maybe some people will freak out and call it a "social internet bust" or something.
I don't know about Google+. Even if it has more cool features and the trademark ease and simplicity of a Google product, I seriously doubt that it could convince hundreds of millions of people to switch.
And Facebook has a different founding history. Essentially, one underdog College Geek (practically a household name) who never intended on creating a massive internet corporation with the worlds most powerful social networking site. Just a way to replicate the social college experience online.
Google is different. The creator and owner isn't one college kid a lot of people could relate to, it's a faceless company-from-the-future here to own the internet, who pretends to be your best friend but sells your soul to advertisers, without you knowing. At least that's kind of how I see it.
I hate to make this sound like a paranoid anti-Google rant. But over the last few months I've realized just how much property on the virtual-front they actually own. Google search/docs/maps/earth, Gmail, Chrome (and Chromebook), Sketchup, Youtube, Android, Picasa and others. I guess paranoia is the reason I switched from Chrome browser to Opera (which is underrated).
Anyway, what are your thoughts on Google+, the company in General, the inevitable life takeover by our Googillian overlords from the future etc?
(P.S. The Social Network is an amazing movie that I recommend to all of you. I really had low hopes for it, a "movie about facebook" sounded very stupid, but I was
shocked at how good it was. And I think that pre-doubt is why a lot of my friends won't see it. One of my favorites Ever.)