Indeed, Google+ is making headline after headline these days. Apple just approved the Google+ app for the iPhone. Google+ is working to lure celebrities with verified badges ala Twitter. Dell is eyeing Google+ for customer service purposes. And some are even asking the question: Could Facebook get MySpaced by Google+?
But as enterprises like Dell begin looking at the possibilities of Google+, the leading business social network's CEO is planting seeds of doubt. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner shared negative comments about Google+ at a Churchill Club event in Santa Clara, Calif.
Too Busy for Google+?
According to the Business Times, AllThingsD's Kara Swisher asked if there is a limit to the number of social networks that can coexist. Weiner's response: He's not too sure how far Google will get in the social-networking game.
"Nobody has any free time," he said. "Unlike social platforms and TV, which can coexist, you don't see people using Twitter while they're using Facebook, or using Facebook while they're using LinkedIn." The Business Times also reported that Weiner said the social-networking landscape was pretty understandable before. LinkedIn is for professional networking. Facebook is for family and friends. Twitter is for quick thoughts.
"You introduce Google+, where am I going to spend that next minute or hour of my discretionary time?" Weiner asked. "I have no more time."
Growing Google+
But Google is plowing ahead, asserting that online sharing is awkward, even broken, and Google aims to fix it with the Google+ project. Indeed, Vic Gundotra, senior vice president of engineering at Google, said sharing on today's social networks (read: Facebook, Twitter and, yes, LinkedIn) is sloppy, scary and insensitive. Google's answer is to let you share selectively within specific circles, such as family, coworkers or best friends. In Google+, a user just makes a circle, adds people, and shares with only them.
So does Weiner have a point? Are people too busy for one more social network? Or could Google+ steal some of the time consumers are currently spending on other social networks? That remains to be seen, but Weiner isn't taking any chances.
"LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner is clearly poo-pooing a competitor," said Jake Wengroff, global director of social-media strategy and research at Frost & Sullivan. "Weeks after going public, a social network -- finally, a viable one -- from one of the largest Internet companies arrives on the scene, and Weiner clearly wants to regain confidence from his audience of stakeholders -- including investors."
As Wengroff sees it, a tighter integration with Google's mobile operating system can only mean stronger features and a better user experience for both Google+ members and advertisers. Eventually, he predicts Google+ will simply be installed on all Android handsets.
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