A little glimpse of History
The idea of social networking has been there since the birth of internet (1980's). But it did not pick up soon enough as by then only boring govt. officials and some geek researchers had access to internet. With several attempts at social networking websites, it was not until 2002 that one of them became a hit. "Friendster" though started as a gaming and music website turned out to be a stepping stone for the future ventures. "Friendster" followed by "my space" in 2003 and "orkut". "my space" (like "Friendster") concentrated more on sharing music, movies, etc. with friends .
Orkut Serves
How can there be a web development and Google sits quietly and watches. So it recruits some geek heads and makes a new one for themselves. "Orkut" was all about you. It was much more personal. Launched in Jan 2004 "orkut" like all other Google ventures developed a huge user base in very little time.
Facebook’s First blow!!
But soon after “facebook” was opened to the world on September 26 2006, this huge user-base rushed out of “orkut” in very little time. It is very rare that Google ever takes a strong blow in the face; this was one of those rare times. Remember the times you were told not to do a thing, but your urge to do it increased. “Facebook” used the same strategy. It was restricted to only some colleges in the US until it opened to the world, which made it all the more exclusive. It was a clean, classy and no non-sense type website, which had all the plus points of its predecessors. It was as user-friendly as Google, easy to share music, games, and pictures etc. but in a new style. “Facebook” developed very fast, coming up with well developed privacy setting and building a strong user-base.
Google’s Come Back……
Google would never be taken down so easily that to by a College drop out. In the time when “facebook” was making and learning from mistakes, Google was planning to come back with a bang. Seemed easy as “facebook” took everything from a well established “orkut”. It was debated that “facebook” was a hit just because it provided the same thing in a new look. By then “facebook” had stepped up its security, a separate department for photos, videos, user made games, polls and a hell lot more came up. Google pooled all its resources to take on and as well take down “facebook”. Namely Picasa web albums, Gtalk (which included video chatting feature with “free” group chat), YouTube, and “facebook's” "strategy of exclusivity". The venture was named Google+ for which the whole Google outlook was changed. Technically speaking Google plus was much better in terms of features it offered, speed, privacy, photo sharing, tagging, notifications and every other thing it offered. But their own strategy went against them. They launched it at a Beta testing level restricted to only some users. For the first 15 days it was the most talked of thing on facebook, from asking for invites to bragging about getting a Google plus account. People were jealous that their friends got in and they didn't. But this testing took a lot of time. By then those who got in got bored cause many of their friends were not yet there, and those who didn't get in forgot about it or got frustrated and dropped the idea of getting in.
Facebook tries to Defend!!
But seeing the product Google was offering shook everyone at “facebook”. It had to upgrade to protect its user-base and that too fast. So by the time Google+ was over its Beta testing period, “facebook” that till then believed in making everything by itself joined hands with Skype to launch video chatting on its site within 2 weeks after launch of Google+. This showed how badly “facebook” feared Google+. So even after opening to the whole world Google+ plus did not get its desired user-base. Which has completely shattered Google's dream of its Social Network. At least for now. Let’s see what it comes out with next or what “facebook” does wrong!!!
New “Facebook”
For now “facebook” has improved its chat to a great extent, got a stream of notifications over the chat box updating continuously, improved the photo-viewing and is coming up with something new every day.
So if Google wants to come back again it would need more than its resources (maybe collaboration with fb would do)!!
MSG
The idea of social networking has been there since the birth of internet (1980's). But it did not pick up soon enough as by then only boring govt. officials and some geek researchers had access to internet. With several attempts at social networking websites, it was not until 2002 that one of them became a hit. "Friendster" though started as a gaming and music website turned out to be a stepping stone for the future ventures. "Friendster" followed by "my space" in 2003 and "orkut". "my space" (like "Friendster") concentrated more on sharing music, movies, etc. with friends .
Orkut Serves
How can there be a web development and Google sits quietly and watches. So it recruits some geek heads and makes a new one for themselves. "Orkut" was all about you. It was much more personal. Launched in Jan 2004 "orkut" like all other Google ventures developed a huge user base in very little time.
Facebook’s First blow!!
But soon after “facebook” was opened to the world on September 26 2006, this huge user-base rushed out of “orkut” in very little time. It is very rare that Google ever takes a strong blow in the face; this was one of those rare times. Remember the times you were told not to do a thing, but your urge to do it increased. “Facebook” used the same strategy. It was restricted to only some colleges in the US until it opened to the world, which made it all the more exclusive. It was a clean, classy and no non-sense type website, which had all the plus points of its predecessors. It was as user-friendly as Google, easy to share music, games, and pictures etc. but in a new style. “Facebook” developed very fast, coming up with well developed privacy setting and building a strong user-base.
Google’s Come Back……
Google would never be taken down so easily that to by a College drop out. In the time when “facebook” was making and learning from mistakes, Google was planning to come back with a bang. Seemed easy as “facebook” took everything from a well established “orkut”. It was debated that “facebook” was a hit just because it provided the same thing in a new look. By then “facebook” had stepped up its security, a separate department for photos, videos, user made games, polls and a hell lot more came up. Google pooled all its resources to take on and as well take down “facebook”. Namely Picasa web albums, Gtalk (which included video chatting feature with “free” group chat), YouTube, and “facebook's” "strategy of exclusivity". The venture was named Google+ for which the whole Google outlook was changed. Technically speaking Google plus was much better in terms of features it offered, speed, privacy, photo sharing, tagging, notifications and every other thing it offered. But their own strategy went against them. They launched it at a Beta testing level restricted to only some users. For the first 15 days it was the most talked of thing on facebook, from asking for invites to bragging about getting a Google plus account. People were jealous that their friends got in and they didn't. But this testing took a lot of time. By then those who got in got bored cause many of their friends were not yet there, and those who didn't get in forgot about it or got frustrated and dropped the idea of getting in.
Facebook tries to Defend!!
But seeing the product Google was offering shook everyone at “facebook”. It had to upgrade to protect its user-base and that too fast. So by the time Google+ was over its Beta testing period, “facebook” that till then believed in making everything by itself joined hands with Skype to launch video chatting on its site within 2 weeks after launch of Google+. This showed how badly “facebook” feared Google+. So even after opening to the whole world Google+ plus did not get its desired user-base. Which has completely shattered Google's dream of its Social Network. At least for now. Let’s see what it comes out with next or what “facebook” does wrong!!!
New “Facebook”
For now “facebook” has improved its chat to a great extent, got a stream of notifications over the chat box updating continuously, improved the photo-viewing and is coming up with something new every day.
So if Google wants to come back again it would need more than its resources (maybe collaboration with fb would do)!!
MSG
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