It’s been a little over a week since I joined Google+, so I thought I’d share some of my thoughts about it.
Addictive – for now
Thus far, I’ve found it quite addictive. The fact that 90% of the people I follow on Twitter are already over there means that my Twitter usage has dropped quite a lot. However, only about 15% of my Facebook friends are on it, so it’s got some work to do in that regard.
That being said, I won’t be giving up Facebook or Twitter anytime soon…
Privacy is top notch
Google has had issues with privacy in the past, but they’ve certainly learned from their mistakes. The privacy settings in Google+ are easy to use, quite powerful, and default to “don’t share much”. Kind of the opposite of Facebook.
“Hangouts” are amazing
Hangouts are the group video chat feature, for up to 10 people at once. They work amazingly well, and I’ve met some really cool people through them. In the future, I think they will be a great venue for business meetings, Bible studies, small groups, book clubs, etc. Really, anything that typically has 5-10 people meeting in person could be done quite well via a Hangout.
“Circles” are simple, but potentially confusing
The idea of putting your friends into Circles is quite simple, and works very well. Drag Steve in “friends”, drag Heather into “family”, etc. The problem is that the content from circles come from people, not topics. For example, I might add 20 Google Earth geeks to a “Google Earth” circle, but then I’ll see virtually all of their posts; relatively few of which are likely to be about Google Earth.
“Sparks” are weak
The idea behind Sparks is pretty cool — a quick way to follow a topic you love and share relevant news with your friends. However, the items shown are kind of random and can be somewhat dated and spammy. I expect to see some good updates from Google in here soon.
Google Chrome Plugins
If you use Google Chrome as your browser, there are a lot of great plug-ins to help make Google+ even better. Here is a full list of them, but two of my favorites are:
- Replies and more: lots of great tweaks, including a quick “reply” button while you’re in comments.
- Comment Toggle: Hides all comments in the stream, but you can toggle them open/closed with one click.
Businesses
Right now, there is very little business use for it. As a freelancer I can make some use of it, but no “non-human entities” are allowed on there yet. No websites, no car dealers, nothing. It’s kind of nice, but it’ll be changing soon. Google has promised some great stuff when those features finally come out, so I hope they’re right.
It’ll be hard to avoid
Google has said that many of the Google+ features (Circles, etc) will be making their way into virtually every Google product. This will make use of those sites more enjoyable for g+ users (quickly share a YouTube video to a specific circle), and it’ll make it harder to avoid the service for everyone else.
Plus, that silly notification icon already has me jumping to click it every time it lights up, and it’s on the top of almost every Google product. I feel like Dug from “Up” every time it I see a number in that red box.
I hope for some customization to that in the near future (I don’t need a notification for every “+1″ on a post of mine), but it’s still quite handy. Better yet, it creates a drop-down menu from wherever you are, so you can deal with it right there (answer the comment, etc) without ever having to visit the Google+ site. That’s gold.
So…how’s it gonna do?
This is the big question, and I really don’t know. I love it so far, but it’s early. I think it’ll be a player in the social game, but it won’t be replacing Twitter or Facebook for at least a few years. Given Google’s huge audience, vast integration with other Google products, and their willingness to spend money to make it right, Google+ isn’t going anywhere.
If you own a business, or otherwise need social media to help succeed, dive in now. At some point, you’ll likely want to get your business involved with Google+, so get started today and start learning the ropes. Contact me if you need an invite, then connect with me on g+.
If you’re a social media butterfly, but have no real need for it, give it a shot. It’s likely to keep growing, so now’s a good time to jump in, start making connections, organize your Circles, etc.
If you’re just a casual social media user, it’s up to you. If you already use Google products like Gmail and Android, you’ll be amazed at how well it blends into your lifestyle. If not, then just keep enjoying life on Facebook and keep your ears out for more on Google+.
What do you think?
Have you tried Google+ yet? Think it has a chance to succeed?
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