I think it is still soon to say if Google+ will dethrone Facebook as The Social Network but one thing is for certain, they are cleverly learning from the decisions of others before them. And the +1 button is the perfect example of that. The diference between the +1 button on Google+ and the Like button on Facebook is the implicit meaning behind each one of them.

How many of you have seen their friends on Facebook asking in the comments something like “Where’s the dislike button”? The Like button is great and it is a simple and great way of letting people show their appreciation for someone else’s post. But then someone is sharing some news about how some disturbing event has affected their life and you feel like an ass for pressing that Like button.

Well, the +1 button is more subtle than that. It’s more of a support button, a “I hear you” button, which is good for “liking” and “disliking” alike. And I suspect that these little things that Google has studied and improved are the ones that will dictate the supremacy of Google+ over other social networks. Just have a look at how Chrome was able to emerge as a great browser in the face of such strong competition. No, IE6 doesn’t count.