Help me test something

Google just came out with their own version of the "Like" button.  I'm testing it on my website.  Please help me by clicking on the "+1" button.

This is Google's third or fourth attempt to chip away at Facebook.  Will it work?  Hard to say.  

On the one hand, the network effect is a powerful thing.  (See: QWERTY keyboard.)  On the other hand, when it comes to computer technology, nothing is guaranteed.  Look at the First Browser War between Netscape and Microsoft.  Netscape had a vastly dominant market share before Microsoft even wrote their first browser.  But by leveraging their pre-existing OS monopoly, they squeezed Netscape out of existence.

Similarly, Facebook has turned into the 12,000-lb gorilla of social networks.  There is, essentially, Facebook, and then there's static.  But this rise of Facebook is interesting for two reasons.  They were, in fact, the third dominant social networking site, after Friendster and MySpace.  Friendster's claim to fame was that they were the first ones to think of it.  MySpace stole market share from Friendster because they offered more features--compelling features that users wanted.  When Facebook defeated MySpace, it did it for the same reason--more features--but also because it offered a clean, attractive user experience.  For another company to unseat Facebook, they will need better features than Facebook, and a better user experience.

On the other hand, Google is trying to take a page out of Microsoft's playbook: they are leveraging their search monopoly.  Moreover, this doesn't seem to be a head-on attack; Google is not offering a friend feed or a wall.  They're trying to make search social, but they're doing it with their own technology, not Facebook's.

Given the history of how these things work, I'm not sure I'd bet on Google taking down Facebook with their +1 button.  But I wouldn't bet against them either.

Anyway, please click the button.

J<