Google Plus One
Google is a bit like Burger King. There’s a standard menu served up, but you are quite welcome to “have it your way” – and that’s what this Google Plus One business (and Google Plus for that matter) is all about.
Similar in principle to the Facebook “Like” button, the +1 button is added to websites, blogs, posts – just about anything – to give them a seal of approval. Additionally, it looks like this is linked to the Google search algorithm – nothing particularly specific, but you can expect a site with a higher number of +1s to rank higher than sites with lower +1s. You can find out more here.
Google Plus (stylized as Google+) takes the Facebook idea a little further – it’s essentially a social network! The big news here though is the ability to place friends and associates in to little circles (as in “circle of friends”) – a much simpler method of allowing people access to certain areas of your information than Facebook’s security set up.
Google products do not always succeed, nor are they always well received. You need look no further than Wave and Buzz for examples of both – while good ideas, the execution and uptake of both were not 100% excellent. One factor that may limit Google+ is that at the time of writing it is invite only, and all the invites have been taken – Facebook on the other hand is open to anyone to sign up and create an account.
Obviously there is a buzz (sorry) about Google+ and the +1 button, and limiting access to it only increases the interest, which means this could be a fantastic marketing move. However, should Google fail to open the floodgates within the next couple of months, it is entirely possible that interest will wane and the internet-public will move on to the next shiny thing.
Or back to Twitter.
But probably not MySpace.