You might think there's an error on this article's title, think it should be the other way around? Well, at first look, it should be the other way around. However, Facebook's recent features seem to trail Google+'s tail. Here are some insights that I'd like to share.
Aggregating Topics
While it's a good thing that Facebook has finally made a move to aggregate topics within a user's feed, Facebook's algorithm has a long way to go. Why? If a friend or a brand talks about a new product, would you rather read your friend's feedback or the brand's? Filter button please.
Walls = Ads
With Facebook implementing topic aggregation, it won't come as a surprised if Facebook will do a Twitter - promoted topics from brands you follow which will appear on your news feed. It will be annoying, right? I've always heard from a social media expert or two that social media is all about customer-company collaboration, or is it not Facebook's ad platform and company fan pages are already being used as tools for promotion, but every user's wall is a potential medium to promote new products upfront. "Interruption" still works.
Mobile Video Chat
This one's a no-brainer, Microsoft has Facebook's back. With this year's Skype acquisition, Facebook knows that it can leverage Skype to entice new users. There's already a Facebook Messenger app for iOS and Android, but it only offers chat through messages. Although Google's Hangouts have been a hit so far, it's a not a secret that Skype is an old reliable. With Skype to enhance Facebook's chat functionality, expect that this would be a hit among mobile phone users that are...mobile.
Facebook Buying a Blog Platform
Google has Blogspot. Facebook has none. I'd like to see Facebook buying WordPress or Tumblr soon. I bet most sites on the open web are using WordPress. Tumblr has no ad platform yet which Facebook can use to enhance its ad platform. If Facebook wants to really compete with Google's adwords then buy Tumblr. If Facebook wants to conquer the open web then buy WordPress. If you want to dominate - buy both.
