Will Facebook fans be drawn to new rival service from Google?

It has been announced that Google has launched its own social networking site that will rival the likes of Facebook and Twitter, but some are wondering whether fans will be drawn away from their favourite networking sites.

The increased uptake of broadband in the UK and across the globe over recent years has seen social networking sites become a real phenomenon. Millions of people around the world now spend a great deal of their time hooked up to the Internet and catching up with friends and family through social networking sites. The virtual interaction and the ability share photos, videos, and information that these sites have provided have proven extremely popular with users, making the sites a real hit.

It has now been announced that Google has unveiled its own new social networking site called Buzz, and this site is said to be a possible rival to hugely popular networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. However, with many broadband users having become such huge fans of the already globally established social networking sites, some officials are wondering how many will be drawn away to the new Google site.

One industry official described the launch as a “major land grab by Google for the social networking space”. However, he added: “They’ve launched Buzz with plenty of interesting new features, particularly for mobile users, but the real question is whether there’s enough to entice social networkers away from sites like Facebook and Twitter.”

The new Google service will link directly to its Gmail service, and the Buzz service will enable users to carry out status updates and share content, and is said to contain elements of the other popular social networking sites.

Sources – BBC