Oh Google…you try so hard to fit in with the “it” crowd…but what you fail to realize is that…
A) You don’t market your products good enough. I didn’t even know Google Wave existed until a few days ago….now that it’s already a failed experiment…
- Wait…..wha….?
And Google+? I have no stats to back this up, but based on my own experience, 7/10 people have no idea what it is. I consider myself pretty up to date on the latest and greatest interweb happenings…but I had no idea about Google+ until after it had kicked off its beta testing stage. That’s either sad on my end, or sad on Google’s end. I’m going with the later on that one.
B) You need to bring something new to the table. That’s the only way a product like Google+ could even attempt to compete with facebook (much less win). Right now, it’s just laughable. Sure, “Circles” is a neat feature (one that I’m sure facebook will eventually “borrow”)…but even facebook has the equivalent to that. It’s just a lot less user-friendly and a very unpopular feature (“Friends Lists”, that is). Sooooo….what do you really do that’s different or better than facebook? No really…what do you really do that’s different?
Here’s the thing. Facebook is everywhere. You can freaking log in to websites using Facebook. Everyone’s connected. You need to do something HUGE that will make us actually want to make the complete switch. That’s the only way to even compete here. What huge thing, you ask? I don’t know. I’m not getting paid to think of it…that’s your job. All I know is that there was a time when facebook and myspace were toe to toe. Facebook ended up winning the battle because it set itself apart from myspace. It didn’t try to be a carbon copy like Google+ is currently doing.
C) You can’t just copy a layout and expect to be as popular. As one of my worst friends, Chris Mau (which is possibly THE worst name for a Texan, ever…I might add) pointed out….the Google+ main page looks like a direct coded copy of the facebook layout. This goes back to bringing something new to the table. New features, and new looks. Set yourself apart, market yourself, and do cool #@$@#….otherwise you’ll be obsolete.
Ok…wait a minute here. This is Google we’re taking about. If facebook were Burger King in terms of overall popularity, then Google is McDonald’s. They’ll never…NEVER be obsolete at any point from here on out. But all of their social media endeavors will be until they get smart and bold about it.
In summary…Google is a great technical company, but is lacking in the creativity and social media department. They also need to stop half @$$ing their knock offs. The iGoogle homepage is kind of joke. Everything other than the search engine and a few other awesome features (like Google Earth and Google Maps) is a lesser version of the real thing (Google+ to facebook, Google Music to iTunes, Picasa to Flickr/Photobucket, Google Book Reader to Kindle Reader, Google Apps to Apple Apps, etc.).
My solution…I said I wasn’t getting paid to make the big ideas…and I won’t here…but I will say that it’s time they get some grade A young designing talent to make ALL of Google have a more creative looking and interactive interface. I feel as if many of the graphics I look at are from the internet of yonder year…or simply look like the ever dreaded clip art…or are just too….simple. Apple already has the unofficial patent on the simple, empty white space look. Sorry…
Time for a shake up….unless they’re content to just churn out some awesome features like Google Maps, Gmail, Sketch It, and a few others…..which isn’t a bad thing. After all, no one asked Google to enter into the social media war…
I. Don't. Cater. 