I found this interesting article that, judging from the title alone, was supposed to be about the new Android interface called Facebook Home. However, I ended up learning about all the intricate connections all these mobile providers and social network launchers have among each other in order to gain popularity and increase revenues. So Facebook Home is just another way for Facebook to target Android users by giving them an option to access Facebook and interact through it easier and faster. This is all a part of Zuckerberg’s effort to prevent Google+ from becoming the number one social network for Android, as it was noticeably gaining popularity.
Taking a step back: Facebook works closely with Google to integrate the “Like” feature into almost every webpage, Google would need to include Facebook as an app if it ever chose to release a phone and Android needs to work with both to satisfy user demands and preferences. Then there is Apple: the main competitor for both Google and Facebook. Apple doesn’t really need a social network because it includes apps for almost every other social network in the world. So in reality, this competition over specific users of specific social networks on specific phones just seems silly to me. I do believe that social network providers need to constantly evolve and release updates to keep their current customers interested and keep up strong reputations, but learning about all the connections between these competitors was neat.
Read the full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/may/08/facebook-home-mobile-social-network
I think its interesting how Facebook, Apple, Google compete with one another, but at the same time, they work closely together to come yet with innovative products. And what is even more interesting is that these companies actually need to coordinate with each other to satisfy demands. It just goes to show how these three companies basically dominate the social media/tech sector.