Debating the Future of Google+

The true advantage Google+ has in the battle of the social networks is a philosophical one. It embraces the Web as a whole rather than trying to reinvent a new one, and that’s why it is poised to challenge Facebook for social-network dominance this year.

On the surface, Google+ is designed to be the social extension of Google. Sharing pivots around the +1 button that appears on all of Google’s major products. So whether you’re watching a video, reading an article or combing through search results, you’re no more than a click away from publicly recommending it. Not only that, but when you +1 you improve Google Search. It’s Google’s way of repurposing the Facebook “Like” feature, applying it to all of the Web and making the interaction useful to everyone, not just your friends.

Below the surface, Google+ is a unique way to tie together services used by more than half a billion people. Google took advantage of the reach it already had and added a connective tissue that rewards interaction through amplification. So although much has been made of the inventive way of organizing your friends in “circles” or the instant video group chatting function called “hangouts,” the true killer feature of Google+ is in the unification of the entire Web through its service.

Google+ as we know it today is an interim form. Its potential, though — to blend the world’s largest search engine with a frictionless social network — makes it tough to beat. While Facebook is busy building more strict defenses around its walled garden, Google is laying the groundwork for the largest, most open social network of all: the World Wide Web.