I'm a community manager who loves to share interesting things.
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Get Your Head out of the Sand: Advice from Sir Richard Branson
Yesterday, I listened to Sir Richard Branson at Dreamforce. Then, I wrote this.
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Google Plus Isn't Addictive. Isn't That a Plus?
“Let’s put two and two together. Google Plus isn’t addictive. The beauty of Google Plus is privacy. Coincidence?”
When trying to figure out what went wrong with Google Plus, we’re faced mostly with jokes and sarcastic remarks. This article brings out an interesting point that highlights two of the primary reasons why Google Plus actually isn’t so popular.
The two main points here are (a) that Google Plus is more private than a Facebook or a Twitter and doesn’t give its users as big of an audience to share their thoughts, and (b) that when people do want the privacy that comes from this type of network, they don’t turn to Google.
We always hear people complaining about the lack of privacy on Facebook or Twitter. (This might be a whole different ballgame, but for this situation, let’s just go with it). In theory, people want their information to be kept private. Ultimately though, what fun is using a social network where you aren’t being heard? Half the fun of Twitter is that you have a chance to interact with a seemingly limitless network of people; to publicize information, share opinions, and discuss whatever it is that might be going on that day. The fun of posting photos and articles on Facebook is that you get to share them with your friends and communities and instigate conversation. So yeah, Google Plus might represent the idealist version of what people want from a social network, but in the end, if updates are private, conversation isn’t as interesting as it stays between small “circles” of people, and the network does not have that pull that’s necessary to create addicts of its users.
As for the other aspect of online privacy, recent months prove that Google provides anything but that. Why is their social network so private then? Probably because it seemed like a good idea, and something that people want. But what Google didn’t take into consideration, like the article points out, is that people don’t exactly turn to Google for privacy. Seems like the simplest step of creating a new product — knowing what your brand represents.
Seeing some potential reasons as to why Google Plus is so empty is pretty cool, but the thing I found more interesting was the discrepancy between what people want theoretically and what they actually enjoy. Seems to be a common theme of life!
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Facebook Buys Instagram For $1 Billion, Turns Budding Rival Into Its Standalone Photo App
If you’ve read Twitter in the past 2 hours, you know what I’m talking about. And you also probably know that people are kind of freaking out. Some of my favorite reactions to this shocking (not-so-shocking?) announcement have been tweets saying things like “RIP Instagram,” “Instagram Alternatives,” and “How to Delete Your Instagram Account and Still Save all your Photos.”
Seeing these reactions makes most of us ask, What does this even mean for Instagram?
Frankly, I’m just a marketing student who loves social media, so I probably couldn’t tell you. But, I can share some interesting information and perhaps help form some opinions.
In the note from Facebook referenced in the TechCrunch article, Mark Zuckerberg clarifies that Instagram will remain an independent app (think Google/YouTube):
Historically, Facebook has fully integrated every app that they have acquired into its platform. Take Spotify for example. You need a Facebook account in order to log into Spotify, and all of your playlists, suggested tracks, etc. are based upon the activity of your Facebook friends. Next, look at Words with Friends. You can’t connect with people on apps like this unless you are a.) connected with them on Facebook, or b.) know their username. One of the coolest things about Instagram is that you are able to connect with tons of different people within and beyond your network.
That said, Facebook is claiming that this won’t happen this time. Perhaps it is a possibility that, since this is the largest acquisition Facebook has yet to make, this will last. Looking back at the Google/YouTube case, we can see that this is fully possible. If someone didn’t know, they would barely be able to tell that YouTube was owned by Google. So, I wouldn’t advise deleting your Instagram account just yet.
I think that the most alarming part of Facebook’s statement is the line that reads: “This is an important milestone for Facebook because it’s the first time we’ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users.” Facebook has been notorious for taking as much information from people as they can, and now, they have full access to a whole new database of people. By agreeing to this acquisition, Instagram also agreed to share its entire user base with Facebook who will probably use that information to further take over the world (forgive my overstatement, but there really isn’t a better way to express that one).
The last thing that I would worry about is the direction in which Instagram is now able to grow. Yes, they will have gone from a small company of just over ten employees to having the resources of Facebook, but the fact that they are now a part of Facebook will limit possible partnerships and improvement options. Independent apps are able to integrate and collaborate with each other via developer API’s, and Instagram had a lot of room to grow in this area (sharing options, photo streams, related apps). Technically, Facebook got just what they wanted in that they saw the potential, figured that they wouldn’t have been able to stop or beat it, bought it, and now have control over where it goes.
[Something else worth noting is that Facebook was supposedly trying to create a photo sharing app like Instagram, but finally decided that it wouldn’t be able to beat this growing app. The fact that they tried to create this for their own platform and then bought its biggest competitor (because they can), makes me question the plausibility of Instagram remaining as independent as claimed.]
All of that said, this literally happened hours ago, so the only thing we can really do is wait and see what happens. I love the tech world.
