Facebook Tops Google in Relationships

As Facebook kicks off the new year in 2011, they have something to celebrate.
Like being named the “most visited website” of 2010.
Which meant besting a little site some of you may have heard of known as … Google.

In addition to being the most visited website, marketing analysts at Hitwise concluded that “facebook” (or some variation, such as “facebook login”) was also the most searched term in America last year.

And other experts at Gigya, a social optimization service, suggest Facebook deserves an even bigger trophy. They report that Facebook accounts for a whopping 46% of website logins while Google’s pulls in less than half that at 17%.

This data has the non-facebookers, as well as many online experts, reeling. How did a social networking site upset a powerhouse like Google?

The answer that’s floating up through the ranks?

Google is providing opportunity for information.
Facebook is providing opportunity for relationship.

So go ahead and clap with the idealist in me, that even in the online world, people are (perhaps surprisingly) drawn right back to…people.

And, if you run an organization, feel free to take a lesson from Facebook and make understanding relationships between people one of your core competencies. Friendship, it turns out, is still among the world’s underrated super powers.