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    Mediatwits #11: Can Google+ Overtake Facebook, Avoid MySpace’s Fate?

    by Mark Glaser
    July 1, 2011
    Some people have something against others talking only about Google+ on Google+

    i-4cb0d10bf02502a3d8aed81241c87380-danny_sullivan headshot.jpg

    Danny Sullivan

    Welcome to the eleventh episode of “The Mediatwits,” the weekly audio podcast from MediaShift. The co-hosts are MediaShift’s Mark Glaser and Rafat Ali, the founder of PaidContent. This week’s show looks at the recent launch of Google+, a more fully formed social network that is taking on Facebook. Google+ is in an invite-only mode but both Mark and Rafat had a chance to try it out. Special guest Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land joins the show to spell out just how difficult Google+ will have it trying to overtake entrenched social networking king Facebook.

    "The big challenge is whether or not people who are happily using Facebook are going to go over to [Google+] and start over." -Danny Sullivan

    Plus, MySpace, the former social networking leader, has fallen on hard times, with News Corp. recently selling it in a fire sale for just $35 million, a far cry from its sale price in 2005 for $580 million. What went wrong? Could the same thing happen to Facebook? And how can Google+ be the next Facebook and not the next MySpace?

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    Intro and outro music by 3 Feet Up; mid-podcast music by Autumn Eyes via Mevio’s Music Alley.

    Here are some highlighted topics from the show:

    Rafat back from Uzbekistan

    1:50: Rafat says it’s easy to unlock an iPhone

    3:25: No one uses Facebook in Uzbekistan

    5:44: Rundown of topics for the podcast

    First impressions of Google+

    08:20: Rafat annoyed by people talking about Google+ on Google+

    10:10: Mark says there’s nothing groundbreaking to make people switch

    Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan joins in

    11:35: Background on Danny Sullivan

    13:40: Google +1 buttons don’t go into stream

    16:40: Google+ lets you start fresh with friends in circles

    17:45: Danny is exhausted thinking about having to categorize all his friends

    19:40: Danny likes the Hangout video chats

    MySpace sold on the cheap

    i-112020c77cc326088e0aa484025f8e73-myspace-logo-200.jpg

    23:20: Justin Timberlake now has stake in MySpace

    26:15: Rafat says MySpace founders weren’t strong leaders

    27:10: Danny never liked MySpace because it seemed “messy”

    28:30: Google search deal actually hurt MySpace

    More Reading

    Google+

    Google’s Facebook Competitor, The Google+ Social Network, Finally Arrives at Search Engine Land

    First Look: Hands On With Google+ at Search Engine Land

    Google+ Project: It’s Social, It’s Bold, It’s Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part at TechCrunch

    9 Reasons to Switch from Facebook to Google+ at PC World

    How to invite your pals to Google+ at CNET

    Exclusive: Myspace to Be Sold to Specific Media for $35 Million at AllThingsD

    The Rise and Inglorious Fall of Myspace at BusinessWeek

    Stealing MySpace book at Amazon

    Weekly Poll

    Don’t forget to vote in our weekly poll, this time about Google+:


    Mark Glaser is executive editor of MediaShift and Idea Lab. He also writes the bi-weekly OPA Intelligence Report email newsletter for the Online Publishers Association. He lives in San Francisco with his son Julian. You can follow him on Twitter @mediatwit.

    Tagged: circles danny sullivan facebook google hangout myspace privacy

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