I suspect many others have had a similar experience. When Google + first came out, I got an invite on day one (which obviously made me feel special). I quickly closed out of Facebook, shut down tweet deck and got off twitter so I could give my undivided attention to G+.
What I learned
And I learned this really quickly. I was overwhelmed between managing Google + and Facebook. As much as I want to move over to G+, Facebook is hard to get away from because of how much time and energy I have already put into it, and Google + certainly has some major kinks to work out. I did discover a Chrome Browser Extension that allows easier sharing between G+ and Facebook, but its still far from ideal.
What I Found
I found that rather than make the painful choice which network to show my allegiance to, instead, I unintentionally kinda “shut down” and just stopped using either of them.
However, the same is certainly not true with twitter. Twitter still stands unique in my eyes and remains a source for information and immediate updated for me.
Twitter’s Unique Positions
I never thought Facebook status updates had a chance, but I did think it was possible Google would do something. And maybe they still will. But so far, with the launch of Google +, all I see is a Facebook competitor which makes them much less of a threat to twitter. Even with the recent disappearance from Google Real Time Search and the speculation that Google may replace it with their own Google + data (see item 5, but to be fair item 1-4 would say the opposite), twitter still has something unique that no one else seems to be able to compete with it.
- Provides users with up to the minute news. Twitter is for anyone to speak to anyone, and speak quickly. Sure, Google + and Facebook have status update features, but there is so much else going on. Twitter has a more natural appeal to it for quick, up to the minute QUICK updates.
- Simplicity. What could be more simple than sending out a 140 character message and reaching hundreds, if not thousands of people?
- Opportunity to connect with people you otherwise might not. I have always found that on Facebook, people are significantly more private, which probably comes as no surprise to you. Google + has bridged that gap by creating circles which gives you the option of sharing with everyone or smaller more intimate groups. But that goes back to point number 2. Its not as simple.
Sure there is all the crap that you dont care about. But that exists on Facebook and Google + as well.
Which is what leads me to believe twitter has a long future ahead of itself. But I expect there are going to be plenty of people who disagree with me
Bring it on!