Google Plus or Facebook

For years, it's been 'Twitter or Facebook', but really, you cannot compare these. You can compare Twitter to Tumblr, because they're both micro-blogs, but Facebook isn't - it's a social website.

For years, Facebook has reigned supreme without any large competition. It took MySpace and Bebo basically off the market - and has since provided millions with a unmatched social experience.

Now, after seven years of dominance, have Facebook finally found their match? At the hands of Google Plus.

Profiles

On profiles, both social networks have near to the same design. Friends are on the left, but on Google Plus they come in thumbnail form, on Facebook it's more a list format. Editing and adding on Facebook is at the top-left, whereas Google's is below the name. Then you've got the main chunk, your posts, situated in the centre. With videos; pictures and links, Google makes them full page - but Facebook tends to demolish most of the preview, making it more advertising.

The main difference between the profiles is Facebook has adverts, Google doesn't. This makes Google's profile interface much more cleaner. Everything seems better when you're bundled up with things you don't want.

News Feed

With radical re-design by Facebook in the past months, Facebook has stormed ahead of Google in News Feed interface. Facebook has, unlike Google, a status updater, detailing you all about your world in Facebook - it has a list of applications and it has polling/questions.

Where Facebook is in the lead, it lacks in other departments. Their design comes shabby again, against Google's crisp white design. Facebook has a lot of unnecessary bits on, which if taken off, would make the interface more accessible and more likeable.

Both systems have the same chat interface, although Facebook provides another at the bottom right. On Google, it allows you to change if you're busy or available. On Facebook it gives you two options: off or on - not very accessible.

I don't know which one is better - if you place it in a job interview, Google is the 20 year old guy, fresh out of University, but lacking any experience in the professional world. Facebook is the 45 year old, with a good twenty years experience, but lacking the education to make new strides. With one, you'll see him grow and become better - the other will be as good as he always has been.

Facebook

Friend are found in many ways on Facebook. To find a friend, you simply search their name, then the closest friend to your match will be shown. If a friend has a common name, such as 'John Smith', the interface will search your best match through a system of other characters, such as - mutual friends - close location - same school and other relevant information.

Searching for friends is pretty easy, once you've got yourself established with a few, you'll be able to find most of your others through mutual identity. Facebook will venture out and try and give you opportunities to make other friends, through friend-finders.

With time, Facebook has grown more than Plus; it has more members on the website. Finding friends is good, but the amount of friends you can have is also very good. The variety is better than it is on Google Plus; which has just started out.

Google Plus

Plus is a newer version. They've been able to sample off other websites how to find friends and get more people onto the Plus-network. The bad thing is, they cannot connect through Facebook, so they cannot take Facebook members and put them on Plus. This could have been one of the best moves for Plus, as many were excited for Plus' arrival, but didn't know how to use it.

You can suggest invitations and again, Plus will give you suggestions on who to become friends with. Finding friends is pretty easy, not as easy as Facebook, but pretty easy. You can find most anyone whom you really want to in a matter of three/five minutes. The worst thing about Google Plus' friend finder is they have celebrities on their, so they may bypass you're looking for a friend and add a celebrity instead.

Conclusion

Facebook is better, but given time, Google Plus may excel. The good thing about Facebook is it's established now, Plus is still growing. While people on Facebook can find each other through this established network, many are unsure of Plus and decide not to go on.

For this one, we'll need a great deal of print-screens. I hope you're okay with using thumbnails, hopefully so since I've used them all the way through this Hub.

You want to click on the thumbnails and out of the two, see which is better. I'll leave a small description of accessibility and speed on the navigation under the photo.

Messaging Friends

On Facebook, you can inbox friends even when offline. On Google Plus, you cannot, they only allow you to speak to the member if they're online and have their chat on. A silly mistake by Google, to ignore the fact we may want to message others at times when they're not available.

Right now - Facebook has more to social life then Google Plus. Facebook has more usage and better interactivity, but Google has a better interface and more cooler ways to add your friends. If Google Plus were to take on board some of the other Facebook designs, and show other ways to connect to Google Plus, I believe many more would be entitled to join.

Having an age barrier is a silly thing as well Plus, don't you know if children really want to join they will just change their age? You're just putting off a large population of the internet with this age barrier.

Another thing Google will have to consider is easier access, being called plus means that they cannot be found on the web. Unless you have a G-Mail account, you cannot simply go on Google and click 'You+'.

We will see in the coming years who will dominate. While Google looks the part, I think Facebook will always be the #1 social website. I'm happy to have finished this and I leave you with this, a happy man with raised eyebrows.