A headline like “Blab.im vs. Google Hangouts” probably sounds like yet another jousting match between media companies. While you've likely seen a number of similar headlines lately, the differences between Blab.im and Google Hangouts is quite significant and bears mentioning, especially if you've been using Google Hangouts to conduct video conferences with clients or prospects.
What makes this important is that Blab.im provides an easier method for you to hold a group video chat using the Brady Bunch square system. While you can only see four people at a time on the screen, it's an excellent way to create a public video conference with multiple people. It's also one of the easiest ways, since trying to manage a video chat with more than four people is often challenging.
It goes beyond the multiple video chat features, however. Blab.im has numerous other attributes that are all designed in a simple way. This helps distinguish it considerably from Google Hangout, which isn't always the easiest platform to use even after learning to use it for the first time.
Take a look at the impact Blab.im may soon make and why it could spell the end of Google Hangout, unless Google plays catch-up in a hurry.
Community Interaction
Many reviews of Blab.im now exist, and some of them note how great of a community the service has behind the scenes. Because Blab is still in beta mode, those who run the show are continually adding or fixing things as the public uses the app.
Wisely, the developers made the interface simple to use by merely clicking on their “Join” icon. It's the same with Periscope and many live streaming apps, though you can't put together group chats on some of the others.
Blab.im is even one of the first video chat services to integrate well with Twitter. As a different angle on community interaction, you can easily get people interested in joining your Blab by simply posting a notice in your Twitter feed. Those participating in watching your video chat can easily share it on Twitter as well. For social media marketing purposes, this is obviously an amazing opportunity.
Google Hangouts frequently made it more challenging to go live quickly with a chat, so the one-click process with Blab gives them a huge competitive advantage.
Engagement During A Blab Chat
No doubt you've seen the commenting feature on Periscope during live video feeds. Blab can do this as well during group video chats, which is something Google Hangout has never fully implemented. The best thing is that the textual chats on Blab get seen by the guests in the video squares. This creates a better dynamic in conversations so they can engage with those tuning in.
For social media marketing purposes, it's extremely valuable since you and your team can answer public questions immediately through live video.
Easier Bug Fixes
One of the distinct differences between Google Hangout and Blab is in the troubleshooting. Google Hangout is known for having far too many technical issues occurring during live events. When something happens, most people have a hard time getting them solved immediately. By the time an issue gets resolved, the event is usually over. I've even witnessed this in Hangouts hosted by Google that eventually had to be re-scheduled.
With Blab, you simply hit the refresh button when a technical issue occurs, and it almost always fixes the problem. That's a huge convenience for you when you want everyone tuned in every minute so they don't miss details.
The ease of use is thanks to an astute development team at Blab.im. They'll no doubt add more changes and features in coming months as Google's first real major competitor. You can likely guess that Google will counter eventually, yet Blab is worth trying now to help give a new edge to your marketing tactics.
