With over 10 million registered users in just a few weeks (and it"s still invite only) Google"s new social networking service Google+ has gotten tons of buzz. But the CEO of a rival social networking service questions whether people will have time to sign up and use yet another similar service when there are some established players already available. The Business Insider reports that LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, speaking at a event in Santa Clara, California on Monday, stated, "Nobody has any free time. Unlike social platforms and TV, which can coexist, you don"t see people using Twitter while they"re using Facebook, or using Facebook while they"re using LinkedIn."
Basically Weiner states that the social networking universe has three big businesses. Facebook is for giving messages to family and friends and Twitter is for sending out quick messages to your followers. Weiner"s own LinkedIn is for business contacts and recommendations. So where does all that leave Google+? Weiner states, " ... you introduce Google+, where am I going to spend that next minute or hour of my discretionary time? I have no more time."
While it"s true that Google+ is the new boy on the block, it wasn"t that long ago that Facebook was also new to the business and MySpace was the 800 pound gorilla in the social networking space. Things have certainly changed as users fled MySpace and moved on to Facebook which gave its users more and better features. Weiner seems to forget that if Google offers features in Google+ that are more attractive to Facebook readers history could repeat itself.