Is Google+ the end of Facebook as we know it?

Internet giant Google has started releasing it's Google+ platform to the general public via invites for over a week now and is rapidly gaining headway in ways that its predecessors, Google Buzz and Google Wave, could only have dreamed. And with Google+ new expansion to allow businesses to create profiles, we may see a platform shift in social media with the coming years. Should Facebook be scared? Lets weigh the situation for a second

Facebook already has the subscribers

Right now Google+ is faced with the answering the question "If it's not broke, can we fix it?" A tricky endeavor to say the least. Facebook currently holds all the cards, expecting to have over 750 million worldwide users by the end of the year. It's user interface is fairly simple to use and with the exception of some privacy concerns, has user approval across the board. Google+ looks to change that, with a more integrated AV and group based concepts (like its already heralded huddle and circles implementations), to somehow make social media even more social. Facebook looks to compete with the addition of Skype based video chat with hope to maintain and possibly add to its international base of users. This addition may be enough to keep people from making the switch over, however Google+ integration with Gmail accounts may sway users of it's email service to stay within their mailbox.

Google already has the brains (and the bucks)

Facebook may have the followers to keep it in the top spot of social media for now, but over time an innovative "space race" as it were to create the most cutting-edge features will take place to attract the long-term user. And lets face it, although we are talking about the two of the wealthiest companies in the world, Google's war-chest is much deeper than that of Facebook, meaning that they can pay top-dollar for the best designers and developers and along with it's domineering sway in the search market, has plenty to offer large brands and entities in the way of bringing in customers and marketing information.

Can Google+ and Facebook co-exist?

Is the metaphorical pond large enough for for two big fish to live? Facebook and Twitter seem to manage just fine, however the two networks do seem to serve different purposes and also share some of the same frequencies by allowing posts to be viewed across both networks with relative ease. In terms of posting, how the integration between Google+ and Facebook has yet to be seen. It can be assured however that some third-party developer will develop a means to post across both platforms (Hootsuite, I'm looking at you here) and attempt to blur the border line between these two social metropolises. Will people adapt to having multiple networks? Will the landscape of social media become one that houses different cities of social networks where followers speak to each other with free-flowing ease. The latter idea may be the ideal case for users and make social media the new email, but as for now these two giants are butting heads and looking to be the sole king of the hill for users in the social media realm.

What do you think? Let's talk about it! Join our discussion on Facebook or on our blog.