I always have this question in my mind. Why Facebook is more successful than Orkut or MySpace? What does it have in it to attract more crowd than what Orkut did? Is it just because Facebook had better marketing, better timing, may be really better features or something which the management theories can't explain.
I have my own reasons for Facebook to be better than either of them.
Yes Myspace was definitely more buggy than Facebook. Facebook is very smooth and easy to use.Some features that makes facebook stand out are
Clean layout
Less advertisements
Popular games
Better privacy
Ahead of the curve.
This gives some reasons why Myspace didn't gain much audience like facebook.
Lets now compare Orkut and Facebook. Definitely Orkut is a worthy competitor than MySpace. Orkut has a better share outside U.S and as i am writing this today ,"Facebook overtook Orkut in India with 21 million against 20 million users". But Facebook is picking up more steam than Orkut does and its hard to see why Google could not get a hold in Social networking ideas.
I personally see Facebook having much better professional layout than Orkut. The Facebook's mini feed feature is very interesting. The new Facebook places is going to be a real challenge for Orkut.Some of the usability features like searching friends and drag and drop features are quite impressive. Even orkut have some features which i don'd find in Facebook like "viewing anyone's profile" and "Knowing No of times some one visiting your profile". Still these doesn't stand out much and the new applications developed around Facebook have much value addition than anything that's available in Orkut.
Though i feel sometimes that Facebook takes away the personal touch, it still pays me back with new friends and making me stuck with my iphone more than what i used to be...
People need change and may be there's a new Facebook in making in some corner of the world!!!
