For a rapidly growing corporate power, Google seems to be VERY social. One of Google's main charms is that it always keeps it's fan/user base informed on new developments with their apps, mobile OS, or even the website itself. Google is actually quite the social, technology-savy, colorful, always improving butterfly.
- Google uses a couple of social networking platforms, such as Twitter & Facebook
- In fact they actually have their own social network, "Google +", which has already become a hit internationally. It even threatens to surpass Facebook someday as the "primary" social network. Personally, I think this is pointed out by the fact that Facebook's last major overhaul created an interface that mimicked Twitter & Google + respectively.
- It's interesting because not only does the flagship Google brand have it's own Twitter and FB accounts, their apps also have accounts of their own. Google Maps is constantly updating and posting tweets about new developments; liking an app on Facebook will bring you to the app itself for your computer/phone.
- Even Google + has a Twitter account.
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- Google micro-blogs like crazy! They have a blog on Blogger (ironically bought up/endorsed by Google), that posts short blurbs about their new developments. Many times there will be a link to a YouTube video explaining the new development in a somewhat more graphic detail than the actual micro-blog.
- On that note, Google's micro-blog sometimes assumes the role of a regular blog. It depends on the subject matter of each post.
- As mentioned above, Google usually posts visual aids with their blog posts. The same goes for their posts on Twitter and FB. Google is a very visual company and utilizes the internet to emphasize this.
- There is an element of social bookmarking, and it's on their blog. Each subject of a new post is categorized and put in a list to the right; anyone curious about a specific subject Google has touched on can look on that list and find it.
Overall these elements of social media & sharing allow Google to remain in touch with the public while maintaining a corporate frame on how they handle business. The use of social media has definitely boosted Google's user-friendliness and accuracy. Google's involvement in social media makes their presence more personal, as users can access connections with Google on their own terms (visit the site, visit their Twitter page, join Google+). Repeating what I said earlier, Google is one social, evolving, colorful, tech-savy butterfly.
Google is pretty smart for using each of it's individual networks to cross promote. I would bet that most people don't know that google is behind YouTube so they're gaining more followers by cross branding like they do.
ReplyDeleteYou've done a good job of unraveling Google's multiple social networking threads. What is interesting is how they have restrained their brand. For instance, since YouTube isn't GoogleTube, they aren't actually extending their brand in that direction. Instead, they are keeping each brand pretty well focused on its original identity and building on that. The result is a family of brands, each of which is pretty strong in its own right.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, Facebook's facelift to make it look more like Google+ is actually good strategy on FB's part. Remember, the primary strategy for a leader is to keep from being outflanked. This looks like an effort in that direction.
Anyway, overall, a good analysis and commentary.