Google + frenzy grips Karachi’s netizens
Ammar Shahbazi
Karachi: The news of Google’s upcoming social media website – the Google + project, which set off waves of curious discussion threads across the globe among internet users, has lent violence-hit Karachiites something exciting to talk about.
After the search-engine giant announced three weeks ago that its social media website is on the trail phase and is all set to hit the web soon, the news became a hot topic in Facebook and twitter — two websites that experts say are its biggest competitors.
But Google’s latest venture is being greeted with mixed feelings here in the city. Naved Ahmed, software professional who works for a local IT firm, believes Google does not intend to compete with Facebook at this stage. “I don’t think Google plans to launch an all-out combat against anybody at this point, let alone a giant like Facebook. The purpose is to give its consumers a complete browsing experience; it is just an addition to the range of services they are offering.”
But others see it as Google’s answer to Facebook with a tinge of vengeance for what Facebook did to Orkut. “We all remember Google’s Orkut, before Facebook came, that’s all we had. But Facebook simply killed it. Now Google is planning a Badla, that’s all what Google + is here for,” said Hasan Faraz, a student of petrochemical engineering at NED.
Like every other phenomena in the country, conspiracy theories about the real intention behind Google’s latest social media offering are also brewing, including some mind-boggling Jews plot where Google plans to maintain data of Muslim users’ etcetera.
Some of the unique features of Google + have already tumbled out of the surprise box – two of them are being widely discussed on the internet: ‘Circle’ and ‘Hurdle’.
Circle would enable users to divide their friends into different groups e.g friends, colleagues, family and share content exclusively to certain groups as opposed to Facebook’s either-it’s—all-or-no-one function.
Hurdle, on the other hand, has been slated by experts as the most unique feature dreamed up by Google +. This function allows users to engage in live group video chats — something no social media website came up with to date.
But the question that’s pricking curious Karachi netizens is pretty simple: Do we really need another social media website in our lives? Given Facebook’s oceanic range of features, including open source applications- where users can create their own applications for usage, and Twitter’s almost 24/7 connectivity, Google’s effort to squeeze in a tight spot to make a place for itself seems unnecessary to some.
But Noman Altaf, a bachelor’s student, believes people will join the new website in droves. “You can’t ignore the peer pressure, when Facabook appeared; we all jumped, without knowing what it was. It’s true that we loved it, but we joined without knowing anything about it. So I think people will do the same this time.”
Provided the sky-rocketing hype and the restless curiosity among people about the Google + project, it looks certain that despite an apparent needlessness for another social media website in their lives, Google’s new venture will be a success among the netizens of Karachi.
Source: The News
Date:7/18/2011
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