Before you even get a chance to log-in to Google+ there is already a major similarity between them and Facebook, that being the invite only approach. Back when Facebook entered the social network arena they proved just how powerful the exclusivity factor can be, in most cases, not being a part of the club only makes you more eager to join.
Once you do log-in you could easily be forgiven for thinking you'd logged in to Facebook and they had overhauled the look of their site. At a glance Google+ seems to be different in how it works, for example, you can post updates to certain circles, a circle is a set of friends, colleagues or people you follow (sound familiar?). The truth however is for the very most part it's not, Facebook allows you to do the same thing, if your contacts have been set in to diferent lists, you can also post to a certain group of people once off.
The one big difference is you can't go and post on a friends profile, you can only comment on posts and updates they make to their own profile which for mine leaves it somewhere between Facebook and Twitter in this regard. One big similarty to Facebook is the 'Stream' on Google+, this is the equivalent of the 'News Feed' on Facebook where you see all the posts and updates from those in your circles or those you're 'following'.
Speaking of following, that brings me to Twitter, to me Google+ seems very much like a mash-up of Facebook and Twitter although in a good way. The two major downsides I can see at the moment are usability and the invite only approach they are using during their 'testing' stage, I feel both of these have the potential to seriously harm the traction Google+ can make with the mainstream users.
A few non-tech minded people I grew up with have all said the same thing, they like the look of it etc. but aren't sure what to do with it, these are the people that will ultimately determine the success or failure of Google+. The other issue is the invite only approach, yes Facebook used it with great success but I fear that if Google let this drag out too long the buzz will pass and people will lose interest. Below is a screenshot of Facebook and Google+ side by side.
One of the major differences is Google+ giving you the ability to hold a video chat within what they call 'hangouts', you can start a hangout using your existing circles and only need to install Google's voice and video plugin to get started. It would seem however that Facebook have already closed that gap by announcing the introduction of video chat using the Skype platform which was recently purchased by you guessed it, Microsoft. It seems to me that Facebook and Microsoft (Bing), have decided to team up and do the best they can to knock Google of as may perches as possible and as stated in another article, Google would have to see the purchase of Skype as a missed opportunity, one which could now come back and hurt them.
The reviews around the office have been mixed, personally I quite like it and I'm sure once I get the hang of it I'll like it even more. Having said that, if I had to choose which I preferred I'd take Facebook hands down, for now at least, on the same note though I do like Google+ more that Twitter already and believe that Google+ is what Twitter should have become. I find Twitter to impersonal and lacklustre in the features department and as such I think Google+ has a very real chance of knocking Twitter out of the #2 spot on the list of top social networks.
Article by - Mark Asciak.