Why Mark Zuckerberg’s First Public Response To Google+ Is The Right One

http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/06/zuckerberg-first-public-response-to-google-plus

by MatthewB • 15 years ago

66 42 15 years ago

BvS3• 15 years ago

I really enjoy Toms post on Google+: https://plus.google.com/112063946124358686266/posts?tab=mX

Pretty balanced when it comes to fb vs. Google+.

Also I think he his right on this one pointing out the power of fb-groups where you basically all join the same circle ready made for you by someone else. On of the few groups I am in was created around a wedding. There is currently no way to do that with Google+ (everyone can put up new posts which can only be seen inside the group without adding/friending anyone themselves).

esrauch• 15 years ago

I suspect that Google+ will launch an equivalent feature, I think there is some real incompatibilities with the way that Facebook is handling it and Google+'s current privacy model that they are pushing.

If you share something with a group-circle and then someone joins the group then they can see your post; you are suddenly sharing with someone that you didn't actively intend to. Right now if you share with circles and the people in those circles changes it tracks the changes, but since you are the only person who can change the circles that doesn't provide any similar issue.

tomelders2• 15 years ago

Arguments along the line that Facebook holds an advantage or a competitive edge because of the size of it's userbase are patently flawed. By that reckoning, myspace would still be a serious contender, but the size of it's userbase couldn't mitigate the damage inflicted by bad management, poor quality, contentedness and lack of vision.

I personally think that Facebook suffers form the same problems, especially contentedness, with the additional problem in the fact that their founder and public face isn't all that likeable.

In short, solely because of Google+, Facebook is the new Myspace in all the wrong ways.

And of course, it would be naive to discount the advantage Google has through the presence of one person and one person alone; Andy Hertzfeld. He's a big hitter... a really big hitter. To me, it feels like Yoda just turned up to show the young upstarts what it really means to be a Jedi.

hackinthebochs4• 15 years ago

The situation with myspace then and facebook now is vastly different.

The concept of social networking was still being defined. Now, facebook is social networking in most people's minds. The concept has been solidified. Google's recent offering does nothing to reinvent the concept.

Also, social networking was still something mostly young people were into. The network-effects now are much greater in magnitude than they were then.

The biggest factor in myspace's downfall was that it was perceived as a "ghetto" (I had multiple people describe it to me as such). People didn't join facebook because it was more compelling, they left myspace because it had degenerated to a ghetto and facebook was the most viable option.

The social networking battle is facebook's to lose, not google's to win. As long as facebook doesn't stumble majorly, they're not going anywhere.

edit: There is a serious anti-facebook downvote brigade going around here.

CamperBob• 15 years ago

The network-effects now are much greater in magnitude than they were then.

True, and in fact, they are so much greater in magnitude that they're no longer always a good thing.

I don't benefit from any 'network effects' when my mother, my boss, my wife, my girlfriend, and the kid who used to beat me up for lunch money in 4th grade are all part of my one and only 'network.' If Facebook doesn't get a clue about that, Google can and will eat their lunch.

VladRussian• 15 years ago

"The biggest factor in myspace's downfall was that it was perceived as a "ghetto" (I had multiple people describe it to me as such). "

and FB isn't?

"People didn't join facebook because it was more compelling,"

exactly!

"they left myspace because it had degenerated to a ghetto and facebook was the most viable option."

And now there is even more viable option on the horizon...

donkeykong• 15 years ago

Funny you mention how people felt MySpace was a ghetto in light of Facebook because my first impression of Google+ was that it made Facebook look like a chaotic mess.

zackattack2• 15 years ago

Mark Zuckerberg could easily become likeable within a year. He just has to make it his annual challenge; he must prioritize connecting with people (one aspect of himself) over animals (this year's challenge though another, perhaps less immediately relatable aspect of himself, though perhaps also a smarter long term strategy).

Please take this with a grain of salt because I am still working on liking myself but at this stage in my life I do identify with Mark Zuckerberg very much. I listened to him talking on a YouTube interview at the Palo Alto house in 2005 and noted an intense similarity or parallel I perceived in our body diction - particularly vocal tone.

zackattack2• 15 years ago

I'd like to apologize for an inappropriate, tired and not very thoughtful comment. I would like to amend it to refer to Sorkin's character of Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network. Although I'd very much like to, I do not know Mark.

RK• 15 years ago

Not to play the doubter, but I remember when Hertzfeld was slated to be the savior of Linux back in 2000/2001 (god I feel old!). His company, Eazel, did produce the file manager Nautilus, but then promptly went out of business.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/08/22/hertzfeld_spills_all...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eazel

celoyd• 15 years ago

Plenty of really good products come from companies that go out of business, and Nautilus was one of them. It drove the Linux desktop experience forward by about a decade – from Apple c. 1993 to Apple c. 2003, as flippant as that sounds.

I switched to Linux on the desktop for a couple years largely on the strength of Nautilus. I eventually gave up and went to OS X (conveniently if accidentally using Linux to skip most of Apple’s rough OS transition period) when it became clear that, although there were some brilliant people on the Gnome team and elsewhere,* Nautilus and its approach was being left for dead. Instead, there were five years of stagnant file managers with pseudo-Aqua pinstripe themes. But Nautilus gets a lot of credit for trying.

* For example, http://www.tigert.com/ was a graphic artist who come up with some really elegant interface stuff.

libber• 15 years ago

Facebook has 750 million users. [1]

Myspace has 63 million users, maybe less. [2]

I think userbase is a valid part of a social network argument. Or at least far from "patently flawed".

1. https://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics 2. http://social-media-optimization.com/2011/03/myspace-loses-1...

tomelders2• 15 years ago

Facebook didn't start with 750 million users though, or even 63 million users, and that fact had no bearing on Facebooks rise to prominence.

Userbase size is a symptom of something else. It is not causation.

d0m• 15 years ago

Disagree. The Google+ circle group integration is MUCH better than facebook's one - which is what makes it totally different. Also, talking about user base.. everyone who's using a google service will automatically be on google+.

shareme• 15 years ago

and those who use Google search number approximately 6 billion compared to FB of 750million

jrockway2• 15 years ago

Not every person on earth uses Google. There are still continents where the major concern for most people is living past 30. The Internet is not even on their radar.

hackinthebochs4• 15 years ago

A search user will not automatically translate into a google+ user. The question is how many unique gmail/picasa/blogger users does google have?

thurn• 15 years ago

In fact, Google hit 1 billion monthly uniques for the first time in May: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/06/21/google-notches-one-bi...

BvS3• 15 years ago

What do you do if you want to share something (eg pictures) to a certain group of people (eg everyone who attended your wedding) and also give everyone else in this group the possibility to post new things (eg additional pictures) to everyone else in this group without adding every single person? You can't do that with circles (yet) but facebook groups are perfect for that.

Another usecase would be the "epic bro" circle Google used in one of the Google+ commercials. Why should I and everyone of my "epic bros" create the same circle separately?

parfe• 15 years ago

Google Circles and Facebook Lists are the same feature.

Facebook groups are different. I only mention it because a lot of people seem confused (Lots thinking Fb Lists and Fb groups are interchangeable).

bmelton• 15 years ago

I agree with this. The key differentiator in my mind is that categorizing my friends in Circles is, Hell, almost fun. I can easily drag someone to multiple circles, or drag multiples of people into a circle, or drag multiples of people into multiple circles.

The user experience on it is just great. Yes, Facebook sort of has this functionality, but it isn't anywhere remotely close to being as usable as Circles is out of the box.

bad_user2• 15 years ago

I think Tom Anderson is right, but there's something that bothers me about Facebook Groups and Facebook in general.

I do not like that I can be added by other people in groups without my permission. I do not like that people can tag me in photos without my permission.

And to revert a photo tag for instance, the person that did it doesn't get a notification, sometimes thinking that it is his fault -- for this one photo that was posted in a group, I had to untag myself more than a dozen times, as people kept adding me. And same with groups -- for one group I didn't want to be in, I had to remove myself like 3 times.

And to add insult to the injury, when people realize that I don't like being tagged or be part of their stupid group, it's in human nature to get upset, feelings hurt and all that, so they get upset.

But Facebook doesn't care about me; as it's in their best interest to encourage pictures of drunken teenagers and other things that generate gossip and traffic.

Why Mark Zuckerberg’s First Public Response To Google+ Is The Right One

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