Google Vs Facebook

By now it’s old news that Mark Zuckerberg has come clean and admitted that Facebook had made major mistakes in its convoluted and esoteric privacy system.

But that’s not what I’m interested in at present. Zuckerberg is to all extents, a giddy geek who got in way too deep. He tapped into a need for attention that’s felt by teenagers the world over and managed to turn it into a huge business.

But he’s irrelevant. What I’m really interested in is the contrast of public opinion regarding Google and Facebook.

Google own our world. I don’t mean that in a dystopian, Ministry of Truth type way, but more that they facilitate a huge amount of online (and offline) interactions. Google search, shopper, talk, voice, listen, news, gmail, docs. That’s an ability to subscribe to rss feeds, podcasts, an instant messenger, an email service and an online shopping service. Add to that an operating system in the form of Android (which now outsells the iPhone) and latently, television. Put simply, if Google wanted to become Skynet, it would be well within its means.

There have been privacy scares with Google before. The Google Buzz fiasco rightly caused an uproar, as did the compiling of wi-fi sources last month. Furthermore, it’s really not clear exactly what Google does with our data after countless searches and web pages. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but the reason we regard it more highly than Facebook is for two distinct reasons.

Primarily, Google is a more subtle medium. What I mean by that is that its’ product is a lot less brash and explicit, in contrast to Facebook. Facebook, who have now implemented the “Like” button on a horde of new exterior websites. Facebook Connect is similarly plastered all over many websites. It monopolises the market for trivial interaction, for self validation and for fitting in with your peers. How you can define yourself by what films, books and music you like. Now everyone can be like the cool kids.

Google is far more sophisticated. Its self promotion and products are much more delicate. It gives you the tools to do what you want. Whether that’s edit an online document or look at a house in San Francisco, it’s easy to get to grips with. It also owns a lot of functions that don’t have the Google moniker as a prefix. Android, the mobile phone OS. Blogger, the hugely popular blog platform. Oh, and a little thing called YouTube. That means that Google has control over a lot of things that don’t have explicit Google branding, and that’s very important.

Comparing Google and Facebook directly like this may seem churlish. One is clearly intended as a conglomerate of office tools and communication, the other purely a lightweight social network. But both have privacy and data issues, and both have created a monopoly in each of their areas of interest. So to compare them is actually very natural.

Secondly, Google is actually useful. As I’ve already said, Google facilitates a vast range of interactions and nifty programs. Facebook is much more trivial. Someone mentions it and the connotations aren’t “it helped me get in touch with my old school friends”. It’s more often a tapestry of mundane status updates, superimposed by hundreds of inane photos of “a crazy night out”.

Google potentially has far more dangerous issues than Facebook. Its market share is huge and the sheer amount of stuff it owns is eye-watering and prevents healthy competition. Google effectively has ownership over my mobile and digital life. But why don’t I care?

Because it works. Google is helpful. I’ll grow tired very quickly of seeing the same photos on Facebook, but I’ll always need to find directions to somewhere I’ve never been before on a map. I think this is at the root of our attitude towards Google, and why it contrasts with that of Facebook. If Facebook had been involved with the same amount of data mining as Google has, there’d have been a revolt long ago. That’s because Facebook is a socially lightweight platform that hasn’t really evolved beyond an adolescent mindset.

On the other hand, Google just works. We’ll always want to watch YouTube, or listen to podcasts, or read the news. Google pinpoints the things that matter most to people and make them easier to use. This may simply be a more Machiavellian way of getting away with murder more often, but people don’t seem to be bothered by it.

Is Google more evil than Facebook? Most certainly. Do we care? No, not at all.