Today Google launched a +1 button, which most are hailing as a rival to the Facebook like button and even Twitter’s retweet button, but for search results. Limited to your Google contacts and chat friends, Google hints at connecting +1 with Twitter, but noticeably doesn’t mention Facebook.
Will it be successful in bringing Google into the Social Networking club?
Google says,
The +1 button is shorthand for "this is pretty cool" or "you should check this out."
I say its destined to fail.
I think the point is that we use facebook only for social networking. We can safely assume that interaction on facebook is generally informal. But since google's services are widely used for (semi?) professional purposes, it becomes a mess when Google tries to incorporate social networking into its existing services. This was what Google did with Buzz.
Unless our friends at Google devise some way of completely separating the personal contacts from the professional ones, the social networking ventures will have a high probability of failing. One of the key factors in the success of facebook might have been the fact that it can be completely separated from other forms of communication, not tied up to an existing service.
Again, Google says,
The next time you’re trying to remember that bed and breakfast your buddy was raving about, or find a great charity to support, a +1 could help you out. Just make sure you're signed in to your Google Account.
How many of us want to see their boss's +1's while searching? Or worse, how many want our boss's to see what we have been +1'ing on google search?
Another thing that comes to mind is that people will generally "Like"/"+1" once they have visited and viewed the page. Liking a search result based on page title and 3 lines of extract is senseless, and the correct procedure for +1ing would be :
1. Search on Google.com
2. Click on a result
3. If u like it, come back to results page and click +1.
Which is obviously very unproductive and time consuming. I know that Google wants to spread this on web pages too, but i guess it is a matter of one simple fact:
"My friends are already on facebook."
It might seem very childish, but it is a very important point. Since +1 will obviously be incompatible(?) with Like, people will not shift unless everyone else they know shifts, and everyone else will not shift until everyone else shifts, which is the classical chicken-egg problem!
Website owners would not shift to a clone of facebook's Like button, unless Google comes up with something drastically new.
To get the button for your web site, use this Page. To enable it in your searches use this
To get the button for your web site, use this Page. To enable it in your searches use this
PS: I want to believe that this is another one of those Google's April Fool's Jokes.
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