Facebook vs Google+ - FIGHT!!!!!

So the buzz in tech this week seems to be the feature war going on between Facebook and Google+. Google+ opened it's beta with tons of features people had been wanting for years, then Facebook quickly added many of those features. Now we have this major slap fight over which will win, and which doesn't get it, and which is stealing what, and on and on about what everyone wants and doesn't want.

Like this -
https://plus.google.com/113117251731252114390/posts/cmrXCip3uhu

While fun and thoughtful, I find it all a bit beanplating. That is, over thinking something so passionately that you forget it's just a plate of beans.

I think most users like Facebook because it is simple.
I think most users like Google+ because it is fancy.
And depending on what you want, either may be broken.

These are two different products, and they always will be. Comparing features, strategy, implementation, etc is digging too deep if what users really want (in the case of Facebook) is just to share a silly little thought with family and friends. And it's silly to define a service (in the case of Google+) by it's limited feature set and small userbase if it's in the beginning stages of beta.

To me this is how the "fight" matches up right now -

Facebook has a huge number of people who just want to keep very informal contact with people they normally wouldn't bother keeping in contact with at all. And they want it to be dead simple, because if it takes effort it's just not worth the bother.

Google+ has, by comparison, a tiny group of beta testers who want a wider ranging feature set, tied into other Google services, where they can dial in settings and privacy/access. And they'd like to have more involved conversations. And they'd like to connect to cool people in addition to friends and family.

By analogy - Facebook is a small highschool/coworker/family reunion. Google+ is a huge state fair.

These are two very different things. And they will have different failings in any feature war. For Facebook the failing will be making a bunch of features, when people liked it for how simple it was. For Google+ the failing will be having a complex social hub that won't attract people who want simple and minimal. But..... so what? I suspect both will be huge and successful.

In short, Facebook vs Google+ is more like snack vs meal, rather than Ford vs Chevy. And in the end, people will likely use both.