A different perspective: can Google+ beat Facebook?

As the hammer comes down on Google+, Mark Sullivan of PC World thinks Google+ may be the better bet in the battle against Facebook.

In fact, Sullivan has nine reasons to believe that Google+ will be the champ 

Soon enough, Sullivan says Google+ will become a part of Google’s identity – then, the question will really be, “can Google beat Facebook,” he says.

Integration with other Google Services such as YouTube or Gmail is one major player in the picture, says Sullivan.

“Google will build Google+ social networking features and tools into almost all of its existing online services from Search to Documents to Video (YouTube)… This lets you monitor all Google+ events (updates, messages, etc.) as well as share content with friends without ever leaving the Google service you happen to be using,” Sullivan writes.

The ability to manage friends in “circles,” over Google+ is much more realistic, writes Sullivan. 

“We have many different kinds of friends, and we interact with them and communicate with them in very different way,” he says.

When it comes to privacy, Google+ is the far better option, says Sullivan.

Examples include simple things such as photo publishing – On Google+, when a user tags another user in a photo a warning message will appear that informs the user the other person will be tagged.

Google also decided to stay away from face recognition software, unlike Facebook, says Sullivan.

Running a social network is all about responsible stewardship of users’ personal information. Facebook is a young, fast moving company that has proved itself to be cavalier in its movements, lacking in respect for user data privacy, and accident prone,” writes Sullivan.

“Google on the other hand, is a far more mature company that is, I would argue, seen as more trustworthy than Facebook. For the most part, Google has lived up to its “Don’t Be Evil” slogan. Which company would you rather have as the steward of your personally identifiable information?”

Would you feel safer on Facebook or Google+ when it comes to sharing information?

Do you think the fairly new Google+ could win your Edmonton business vote over the highly popular Facebook?