Have you jumped on the Google+ bandwagon yet? I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now and I must say, I’m impressed. Google definitely has made a step in the right direction and I believe this will actually be a successful product, unlike Google Buzz and Google Wave. I simply believe Wave failed to capture an audience because first, their wasn’t one and their also wasn’t a defined purpose for it. Google+ on the other hand, is meant to keep you connected with your friends and the web and is doing a damn good job at it.
Do I think it’ll fail? I actually don’t. Twitter delivers 1 Billion Items, while Google+ shares 350 Billion. Google+ has 10 Million going strong. And yes, Google+ is also gaining popularity amongst the ladies. If you like, Mashable has a Complete Guide to Google+.
What I like about Google+
One thing I like about Google+ is the ability to clearly define separate groups of friends to whom to share content with. Yes, Facebook has Friend Lists, but I believe Google+ hit the sweet spot as its easier the average user to organize their friends into circles due to its simplicity. I also noticed that some of my friends who wouldn’t share much on Facebook, are actually posting on Google+ which I like.
The Hangout feature is also a really neat idea as it allows you to post to your circles that you are free to start hanging out with anyone via video chat. Anyone can join in by simply clicking on the invite in the post. This is something that Facebook was missing for a long time since group chat wasn’t particularly simple to perform on Facebook. Facebook did recently add Skype Video chat (which is clunky) and group chat which is nice but has been late in the game. Even MySpace had Skype-Powered calls back in 2007.
The best feature I love is the integration with all Google Products. I like how I receive notifications and can even reply to comments on threads I participate in while I’m checking my GMail. I got rid of the pesky e-mail notifications as I can easily see them while I log into Gmail,
The next feature I like is the integration with Picasa and Picasa Web Albums with Google+. You now can upload an unlimited amount of photos under a certain resolution and sharing with friends is pretty simple and Google+ makes it even easier.
The summary below, is also something I truly love about it.
Instead of saying, “I’m going to write a blog post now,” or “I’m going to send an e-mail” or “I think I’ll tweet something” you simply say what you have to say, then decide who you’re going to say it to.
If you address it to “Public,” it’s a blog post.
If you address it to “Your Circles” it’s a tweet.
If you address it to your “My Customers” Circle it’s a business newsletter.
If you address it to a single person, it can be a letter to your mother.
I’d say this is pretty revolutionary. – Google+ shared content
What I don’t like about Google+
So far I’ve grown to love Google+ but there are somethings I don’t like. For one, do we need another social network? I’m not sure, but since it directly ties well into Google Products, its hard not to use it. I also don’t like the ability to reshare your content so everyone else could see. Google+ has an option to remove this feature, but this feature should be enabled by default.
See you on Google+!
If you want, follow me on Google+. If you don’t have an account, drop your e-mail below and I or someone else could send you an invite.
