The Days of Comparing Google+ and Facebook are Over

We take a look at the future of G+ and consider if it's still worth comparing it with "that other social network."

For months now, it was no secret that a major shift in the overall direction of Google+ was in the works, from the removal of G+ integration in YouTube comments, to the separation of Photos and Hangouts from G+, the former leading to the creation of Google Photos, dedicated to the storage and editing of pictures and videos.

As pretty much all of us know, the site was created from the outset to be a “Facebook-killer,” one of the core features being much more granular sharing via Circles, where you could create categories for different groups of people, such as college friends, photographers and the like. This set it apart from Facebook and its friend lists, which were (and still are) very restrictive, being able to see who’s on a particular FB list being one of them.

Apart from competing head-on with the world’s most popular social network, Google+ was the solution to unifying the rest of Google’s services, requiring just one sign in for everything, from Gmail to Calendar, and everything in between.

Of course, Google didn’t succeed in making Google+ the biggest and most popular social network in the world, and that in reality isn’t a bad thing after all, as they found their forte in connecting like-minded people based on their passions. This gained a lot more traction and popularity after the additions of Communities in 2012 and Collections earlier this year. If you want to engage with users with similar passions, such as fellow techies, foodies or even Sherlockians(!), Google+ is the place to be.

The recent revamp to the desktop Google+ only confirmed the new direction the site was heading: focus more on its strongest point - connecting people with their passions - and revolve everything else around that. Communities and Collections were given more prominence as can be seen in their new positions in the navigation menu, while Circles, or Circle Streams as they’re called, are now off by default in the nav (though they can of course be turned on in the settings).

Google+ Desktop UI, November 2015

Even though the update is still as of now in a beta phase, we now have a more defined picture of the future Google has in store for G+. And the more I use the new interface, the more I wonder why they didn't do this sooner. Sure, this dramatic change has been quite controversial with many of the features we knew and loved missing, but this is for the better and over time, I won't be in the least surprised if Google will return many, if not most of those features.

Looking back, the “old” Google+ seemed to be bloated and attempted to do too many functions without having any real focus; now however, with this “revolution” of G+, its focus is a whole lot clearer. Those who’ve heard of G+ in the past but didn’t use it all that often - maybe because it felt too complicated or had a steep learning curve - will hopefully take a second look at it, and those users who are just getting on board the G+ bandwagon should find their experience a much easier and fulfilling one.

Comparing Google+ and Facebook nowadays is about as productive as having yet-another-Android-vs-iOS debate - both social networks serve different purposes: Google+ for people and their passions and interests, Facebook for people, their family, and friends. Both can co-exist, and even though we G Plussers have a huge bias to our favourite social network, we have to admit that beating Facebook at their own game is something that Google is unlikely to achieve.