We keep hearing more and more about Google’s alternative to Facebook, Google Me. There is still no official word from Google whether this platform is even a real project but where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire right?
If it’s true and really in the final stages of development, it won’t be the first foray into the social networking space for Google. They tried before with Orkut and the promising but ultimately irrelevant Buzz, and neither of them achieved anywhere near the dizzy heights of Twitter and Facebook.
My question is though, does the world really have room for another Facebook? What can be achieved from introducing another social networking platform, especially since, by all accounts, Google Me will basically reflect the Facebook model almost identically.
At the very least, Google Me will need to take some of Facebook’s market share to survive, grow and stay releant – the social media pie is only so big.
What do you guys think? Is there room for another social networking giant? Or will Facebook gobble up Google Me the same way it has gobbled up the likes of MySpace?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh how exhausting!!!!! I struggle to keep up with Facebook, Twitter, Emails, Blogs oh, and there is a life in there somewhere isn’t there? To create another social network all I can say is it better come and clean my house and cook my meals as it will need some magic to convince me we need another avenue of communication.
Gday Shaynna,
I agree 100% with you – especially if its actually no different than Facebook anyway! The challenge comes if the platform does grow and becomes relevant, from a marketing perspective we still have to keep abreast of everything that matters.
You are only going to go to Google ME if it offers tools which Facebook doesnt which are amazing and useful. And then theres the issue that the term “social” means you need to have “friends” there to communicate with , and if they are not there why would you move across.
If there was some wonderful mass migration tool (I have visions of herds of Wildebeasts sweeping across the African Plains) that could move you and your friends across in one move, then Google could be on to something. However do you honestly think that Facebook would leave the backdoor open for a competitor such as Google to do this!
I love the dream of a Google Social Networking Site, but sadly I think that it wont work.
Phil
Yep Phil, I’m with you, but if the rumours are true it is basically going to model itself almost exactly on Facebook with no real point of difference. It will have to be pretty compelling for me to think about adopting it – on a personal level anyway.