How would you feel when you happen to meet your old school friend, someone who was very close back then and all of a sudden, goes dark ? It’s all “happy days” at your head. It happened to me yesterday. Someone I was so close with, someone I hadn’t even heard about in years was sitting right next to me at a coffee shop. All of a sudden, there was that usual “Hey. How’re you ? How’ve you been ?” followed by a good amount of gossip. We had a lot of lost time to make up for. And, finally, “Dude, get me your Facebook ID?” I asked him. “Sorry, I haven’t got one.” Oh, not a Facebook aficionado, perhaps. “Well, I’m there at Google Plus too. I can add…”. “Hey, no! You can catch me at Orkut.” Orkut?! Is it still alive? I had started wondering. My friend had left. But, Orkut got me thinking for the rest of the day.
Orkut not a Plus for Google?
Both Facebook and Orkut had started at around the same time. Intentions were clear. To make the then non-existent concept, “Social Networking” hugely popular. Orkut was an instant hit. Google’s backing was an added advantage. Within weeks of its public release, the userbase was growing faster than ever and had attracted a huge traffic. On the other hand, Facebook (Thefacebook as it was started during that time) started with a small sum from the VCs. Like Orkut, Facebook had tried to bring in ways to connect people effectively over the web.
But look. What has happened now? Orkut is nowhere to be seen – pushed down and hit very hard. There still are some active users, like my friend, no denying. But, how many visit Orkut ? Use it for the purpose that it was intended for? All of us have got a profile in Orkut. Remember? When did you last post a message, scrap your friend? Its okay. Forget all that. When did you last check your profile? No less than weeks atleast. I bet. Well, who’s the one to blame? You ?! Me?! Or our I’m-a-facebook-addict friends? I’d rather put it on Google.
Google has got a great bunch of programmers. They can code anything, make everything look visually appealing. You ask them to make a UI with great effects, boom ! They do it. Yes, Google has got a great bunch of programmers! Was it an astonishment ?! Hell, no! They’ve JUST got a great bunch of programmers. What we need here is more than just people who could code stuff. Social Networking is all about understanding the intentions of people. To predict what people would anticipate and look out for in a social networking site was what Google had to do. This is where I think Google had faltered against the Facebook. Psychiatrists would’ve been of great help. Who knows?
It still puzzles me as how a so called software giant, with a great idea, capital and people had missed out on reading the minds. If you can release beta versions of software for testing, do feedback based improvisation, why not for something that really needed such steps? Google had probably took the entire idea of Social Networking too light. With a successful launch, if properly managed, Google could’ve easily made its way to become the innovators of a top social networking site.
But, Kudos to Facebook. They explored the idea way too nicely. To network, is not about having one to one conversation – scrapping or messaging. It is clearly about bringing everyone into the discussion, says Facebook. Google, if you are telling us that privacy was the reason, sorry, you’ve made a big blunder there! To have a private discussion, people could’ve as well used your Gmail. They’re here to shout out loud and gossip stuff. Take our real life for example. People always want to have some opinion on what you do and tell. After all, that’s all we do, when we talk and share things. Facebook implemented all of it in its version – via comments and tagging, thus taking the idea of social networking a step ahead. Its UI was friendly as well. Orkut had missed them all. Probably one of the main reasons why it failed badly.
Why Plus, when there is Orkut?
Guess, Google has finally realized that it has failed. It wanted to take proper steps towards making its stand clear about Social Networking. Then, came the announcement about Google Plus. There were reports, tweets and posts all over! The entire online community had praised the Google’s effort and looked for it in awe. “A significant step in taking Social Networking to next level”, people said. Was it really? They already created the Orkut. Was it not a step towards Social Networking? Why write a new book , when you’ve already got unfinished chapters with your previous one?
It just didn’t make any sense.
Google should have taken Orkut a little more seriously right from the get go. They realize that their approach was wrong. Good. But, why make a new project all of a sudden when both Orkut and Plus are for the same purpose? If Google had planned on making its re-entry, with a boom, why not do it just with Orkut? If it wanted something more dramatic, like say a new version or new name, why not something like, Orkut+ or Orkut-Next? I’m really bad at naming things, sorry. But, you can understand the whole point right? Did Google really require an entire new name and a project?
People had no idea on how better social networking can get. Facebook had every little feature that was required, or so I believe. But, when its Google, they always have something new to bring. Right? There is something we would’ve missed. I’m sure. That was how everyone thought. Even myself, I agree. But, nothing had changed from the Facebook. In fact, every little feature worked(s) just like the Facebook except for the fact that its UI is a little different – in colors and font I mean. But, Google is trying to integrate it well within the Google products.
Google realizing their mistake is a good move. But, this seems to be a little late however. People have already become avid users of Facebook.
Google: What do you want me to do now?
Well, you’ve got the Google Plus project up and running. But, what about Orkut? Once, I knew Google Plus was a different product all over, I thought, maybe, they would shut down Orkut for good and migrate the entire userbase to Plus. That would give them a good start, rather asking people to sign up for it. If not during the product launch, Google could atleast implement it now. Orkut, for heaven’s sake is not active. Even the ones who use it, will find Plus great. Why would people who use Plus, use Orkut ? There is no point of having a method to cross post your Google Plus entries to Orkut.
Google has already made a good deal in integrating Plus with its products like Gmail and Blogger. Calendar and events from the recent Google I/O is another great step. But, nothing seems to help. Google has already got a good number of products at hand that they can make use of. Take for example, the Google Groups. Integrating, Google Groups as a part of Plus, would make it more interactive and at the same time, would bring in more traffic to the site. Google Docs if merged with Plus, can make collaboration much more interactive. I’m not sure. But, I’m still thinking why there hasn’t been much developers opting for Google Plus API. If 3rd party applications can promote, Google Plus, it can still lead to a greater promotion of the service.
The new Project Glass is a wildcard entry for Google. If properly planned and promoted, Glass can take Google Plus integration to heights never imagined.
Let us see.