This article was written by Douglas Idugboe and originally published on Smedio.

Google launched Google+ to cash in on Facebook’s privacy blues. And till date, things have gone as per plan. Most Google+ users have liked the concept of direct and extended circles. In fact, several technology experts believe that privacy holds the key to the high-stakes Facebook – Google+ battle.

To be honest, I believe that Google+ holds a definite late mover advantage. Google knows the mistakes that Facebook made and there are plenty of lessons to be learnt by its own social media debacles – read Google Wave and OpenSocial.

There’s no denial that privacy is a crucial aspect of any social network. Many people view the Facebook vs. Google+ debate as openness vs. privacy. In my opinion, it’s more about ‘privacy done wrong’ vs. ‘privacy done right’.

Privacy Policies

Facebook has more than 750 million users. But how many of them have ever read the Facebook privacy policy? I would be surprised if the number even reaches one million. And there’s good reason why most people don’t care about it – its way too long at nearly 6,000 words.

Google+ has now cracked the 25 million mark in just over one month.

We all know by now that it took Facebook 852 day to reach its first 10 million users, that Twitter took 780 days, and that Google+ took just 16.

While the site continues to break records, it did fall short of the widely anticipated 30 million users in one month hype, although in hindsight the web was getting a little ahead of itself there. Still, the social network is blowing minds with its out-of-the-box growth, and a recent comScore report suggests engagement and time spent on the site are rising metrics too.

Facebook, with is legendary 750-million user base, remains largely undaunted, though definitely wary (here and here). Twitter hasn't said much, probably because there is minimal overlap between its real-time info network and Plus. And MySpace—oh, wait, nevermind.