The Social Network: Follow-up

Wow. Forgive me for the delay here. This was the second time I watched The Social Network. I have to say, I enjoyed it the same the second time around.

1. In your opinion, how is Facebook and Google+ different or the same? 
Facebook and Google+ has some very similar qualities. However, I did some research comparing both social networks and found some major differences between both which could be tempting for new upcoming users.

• Google+ offers "hangouts" where users can join in group chats. Users can send messages and as well as YouTube videos to watch. Now that's pretty cool.
• Google+ offers news readers, called "sparks", where users can read different news feeds and are able to choose the topics they would like to see, easily accessible on their profile. The DIFFERENCE is that it focuses on specific topics and news from media outlets and not necessarily about a friends newborn or something unimportant.
• With Google+, you can keep your group circles secret. It'll show who you've put in circles, but not how you've arranged it or titled it. Although Facebook has different privacy settings, the bottom line is that all the members of the group will be able to see all the other members of that group. Also, Facebook uses Lists, not Groups. It requires extra steps for users, who have to click through several screens to specify what "list" to share with, and setting up Lists isn't quite as seamless as on Google+. It requires much more effort from users, which is something people just don't want to do these days.
• In Facebook, you're only able to see the News feed of people you are friends with. With Google+, you can see updates from who you may not be yet following, but who are following you.
• With Facebook chat, you can only chat with people you are friends with. With Google+, you can "hangout" with people who aren't necessarily in your circle. They are much more open, which can be good, or bad.
• Facebook follows people (you) around the web. We see the Facebook "like" button on many third party sites. Google+ also has its advantage to that. Google+ is embedded into Gmail. While on their inbox, users can also easily log on to the social network. And Google+ also follows people as they browse the search engine. In other words, Google has found a way to immediately put Google+ in front of users.

2. How many users does Facebook have? Why so many? Why did Facebook overtake MySpace? 
Facebook currently has over 750 million users. That correct, over 750M. It is worth over $100 billion. And to think, the nerdy yet successful Mark Zuckerberg could easily decide to retire now if he wanted to. MySpace was the "top dog" in 2008. That is until Facebook came along that April and never looked back. In those 3 years, MySpace has lost over 40 million users, lost its 2 co-founders and has laid off most of its staff. I think that major problem to MySpace's demise was that it was created in the entertainment industry and not by technology gurus. Critics point to MySpace's administrative and strategic blunders and its inability to help evolve with the ever changing web. Connie Chan, analyst with Chess Media Group says Culture is changing and quickly enabled by technology. News Corp's old school thinking and probably red tape were also factors in MySpace's fall." Like Microsoft today, MySpace just could not keep up and fell way, way behind.


3. Do you think Google+ or any other social media will overtake Facebook?
This is hard to say. I think it'll be very hard for Google+ to convince people to abandon their Facebook pages. If Google+ does overtake Facebook, I think it will be because Google+ will offer the opportunity to start over. Who can befriend 400+ friends? That would be too awkward. There's probably friends or statuses of friends that annoy the heck out of you. And you can't start over with Facebook. And of course, it isn't Facebook's fault, but it does give and opportunity and an advantage for Google+.


4. Why do you feel there is such an obsession with Facebook? Do you think this obsession is warranted?
People love staying connected with their friends and loved ones. We've probably "friended" old classmates from middle school and high school who we probably don't talk to. We probably have friends on our phone book that we don't really call or text, but we can easily find out what's going on with their lives simply by clicking on their Facebook profile. I think people are obsessed with knowing whats going on in people's lives. I can't exactly explain this phenomena, but I know I get curious as to what is going in people's lives sometimes. It perhaps makes it easier to connect with others and not have the awkwardness of conversation.


5. What was your perspective of the film overall?

The movie was mildly entertaining. It was also inspirational for people like me, college students, who are close to going out into the real world and join in the job market which is not doing so great right now. Inspirational because it shows how even young people can become successful on their own. Mark Zuckerberg was portrayed as a socially awkward person. I think it showed the perks and also the negativity of being successful. I guess if you want to be on the top, you have to willing to lose friends along the way.