The implications of Facebook’s new features

This week, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and brain behind Facebook, announced new features coming soon to users.

While updated features, which include group chat, a refresh in design, and the implementation of video chat can all be expected as the social media giant evolves, it’s the timing that’s interesting.

Google+, which is now quickly being adopted by more invitees, is Google’s new launch toward challenging Facebook’s social profile platform. Many of the features, as shown in our Google + Overview, reflect a lot of what facebook does, plus adds extra options like video chatting. Facebook’s announcement of more advanced features, which all seem to match those in Google + may imply an upcoming battle between the two giant companies.

Facebook already has the massive user base that may seem unbeatable, however Google has the power of Gmail and search behind them to help lure people away. Just this week, Google announced that they will be adding ‘pages’ to their options, allowing businesses and groups to add their own presence on their network (similar to Facebook pages). Businesses will be sure to keep an eye out for Google Adwords, which is sure to make a presence on Google+ soon.

The exciting thing about all this, regardless of whether people abandon Facebook or ignore Google+, is the certain increase in innovation pumped out by each company. Competition is always great for the end user. Without Chevy introducing colored cars back in the day, the auto industry may have continued with black-only cars for a longer time. Without apple pushing along innovations with OSX, Windows 7 may not be the operating system it is today.

As Google continues to innovate social media and combine it with search engine usage, Facebook will be forced to introduce more interesting and compelling features. Both companies will be providing businesses and users with plenty to think about over the next few years.

How do you think social media will look in 5 years?