My Thoughts on Google + vs other Online Social Media (long read)
The problem I see Google + running into is the same as Wave and Buzz. Its not user friendly to the casual users. It has all the option and integration, but its too "dug in", too complex, too many clicks.
(Puts my casual user hat on) When I go to Facebook.com, Yahoo.com, hell even the dying and spam ridden Myspace.com, everything is right there on the home page. Whereas when I go to Google.com, Im just at the search engine (which is fine by me).
Most user do not want to operate the social network through their email address, They want it to be separated, hidden even, except to the people the chose to have it (their email address that is). What Google should have done was separate this Social networking experience away from google.com and have its own "default" home page.
However I understand Google wants to get away from fragmentation (see Ice Cream Sandwich) and they want everything in one place, I just hope for their sake, if they want to take on Facebook, they need to be a little more user friend and more "out there".
Also one of the main reason Twitter and Facebook is so popular, is because of one thing (well maybe not just this one thing, but) Gossip, and Celebrity interaction and being anonymous. With G+ being integrated with your gmail, I see that as holding it back from taking over. No celebrity wants their social media this close to the personal email. And no jack ass wants to rant and rave with their gmail right on the other side of a click.
Last edited by Flyness163; June 30th, 2011 at 08:59 AM.
Sure you can use another Gmail account NYY, but that defeats the purpose of the integration. No I can be logged into FB and my gmail at once in the same browser. I wouldnt want to have to log in and out of gmail and G+, just to use separate emails.
This Is why I do like G+. I do like having my accounts tied in with my gmail. I don't mind using my real email address because I only share with my friends and family. Real friends...not the peeps I met at the party and shared a drunken guitar hero experience with.
I like having my Twitter update automatically with my kindle, YouTube, c:geo. It's fast and only goes to those I know.
I can't stand celebrity gossip or news. I just want social networking to keep somewhat updated with my fam and friends around the country.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyness163
The problem I see Google + running into is the same as Wave and Buzz. Its not user friendly to the casual users. It has all the option and integration, but its too "dug in", too complex, too many clicks.
(Puts my casual user hat on) When I go to Facebook.com, Yahoo.com, hell even the dying and spam ridden Myspace.com, everything is right there on the home page. Whereas when I go to Google.com, Im just at the search engine (which is fine by me).
Most user do not want to operate the social network through their email address, They want it to be separated, hidden even, except to the people the chose to have it (their email address that is). What Google should have done was separate this Social networking experience away from google.com and have its own "default" home page.
However I understand Google wants to get away from fragmentation (see Ice Cream Sandwich) and they want everything in one place, I just hope for their sake, if they want to take on Facebook, they need to be a little more user friend and more "out there".
Also one of the main reason Twitter and Facebook is so popular, is because of one thing (well maybe not just this one thing, but) Gossip, and Celebrity interaction and being anonymous. With G+ being integrated with your gmail, I see that as holding it back from taking over. No celebrity wants their social media this close to the personal email. And no jack ass wants to rant and rave with their gmail right on the other side of a click.
You came up with this after one day? Have you seen facebook, most people emails are already connect to facebook. Have you honestly had time to review all the features in a manner in which you can speak about pros and cons equally? Facebook wasn't built in a day and wasn't even available to the masses until 5 or so years ago.
Why is this Googles Problem? You could just create a brand like I did. KENNECTED is my brand and I use it for my blog, twitter, facebook, picasa, blip, youtube, etc and as my screen name/Identity on many forums.
Most people on facebook use their real names so how is that different than Google+??
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You came up with this after one day? Have you seen facebook, most people emails are already connect to facebook. Have you honestly had time to review all the features in a manner in which you can speak about pros and cons equally? Facebook wasn't built in a day and wasn't even available to the masses until 5 or so years ago.
Why is this Googles Problem? You could just create a brand like I did. KENNECTED is my brand and I use it for my blog, twitter, facebook, picasa, blip, youtube, etc and as my screen name/Identity on many forums.
Most people on facebook use their real names so how is that different than Google+??
Of course FB wasnt built in a day, but If other google social experiments is anything to go by, If it doesnt catch on if short time, they kind of drop support.
For a power user G+ is no problem, but for casual user is too many clicks to do what Facebook can do in less. And if Google wants to take the market or share it with them , they need to Tap into those casual.
Privacy is a small things (as far as getting people to adopt) I just mention it because I can see it being an issue for some people
Also I wasnt doing a Review, I was just speaking on the "take over" aspect of it
Last edited by Flyness163; June 30th, 2011 at 11:28 AM.
Of course FB wasnt built in a day, but If other google social experiments is anything to go by, If it doesnt catch on if short time, they kind of drop support.
For a power user G+ is no problem, but for casual user is too many clicks to do what Facebook can do in less. And if Google wants to take the market or share it with them , they need to Tap into those casual.
Privacy is a small things (as far as getting people to adopt) I just mention it because I can see it being an issue for some people
Also I wasnt doing a Review, I was just speaking on the "take over" aspect of it
Having gotten my invite today I've had a little time to play with it as well as the mobile app and while I think you have some valid points, in the long run I don't think it will matter.
People are getting tired of the crap they get on FB. The game invites, the like my page, etc etc. I don't spend nearly as much time as I used to on FB because I don't have time to go through all the postings from friends. What I love about plus is the ability to split things up. for me it would be a family circle, friend circle, networking circle. I can go through them at different times and not feel like I'm missing something.
The buzz I'm seeing about this is far different than Buzz or Wave, which once people started beta testing it died because of word of mouth. Everything I've heard has been positive.
Will this be a Facebook killer? Possibly, but I also think it can co-exist with FB. It's like the Apple/Android fans, one will like the simplicity (or dumbing down of social networking) and stick with FB (Apple); others would like more control and be able to do more and go with Google+.
My only problem now is not being able to invite anyone yet!
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Having gotten my invite today I've had a little time to play with it as well as the mobile app and while I think you have some valid points, in the long run I don't think it will matter.
People are getting tired of the crap they get on FB. The game invites, the like my page, etc etc. I don't spend nearly as much time as I used to on FB because I don't have time to go through all the postings from friends. What I love about plus is the ability to split things up. for me it would be a family circle, friend circle, networking circle. I can go through them at different times and not feel like I'm missing something.
The buzz I'm seeing about this is far different than Buzz or Wave, which once people started beta testing it died because of word of mouth. Everything I've heard has been positive.
Will this be a Facebook killer? Possibly, but I also think it can co-exist with FB. It's like the Apple/Android fans, one will like the simplicity (or dumbing down of social networking) and stick with FB (Apple); others would like more control and be able to do more and go with Google+.
My only problem now is not being able to invite anyone yet!
Right on, + is about linking people to people, not randoms to randoms, if you don't have real friend + isn't for you :-)
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It's also important to remember that Google+ isn't Facebook/Twitter, in that you the user choose who you share with. I've already been added to the Circles of over a hundred people, but if I don't add them to one of my Circles I'll share nothing with them.
Right now, unfortunately, there's an awful lot of what Jaffa refers to as "random to random" linking which equates to a high level of bckground noise. I was woken at 6am because somebody added me to a "huddle" of at least 50 other users and the GS2 went apeshit and nearly vibrated itself off my bedside table, for example.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KENNECTED
Why is this Googles Problem? You could just create a brand like I did. KENNECTED is my brand and I use it for my blog, twitter, facebook, picasa, blip, youtube, etc and as my screen name/Identity on many forums.
This. I use a created "brand" I guess you could say as well. JunBringer is the main one I use and I have a dumb fake identity on facebook as well. It started as making fun of a local musician who does it seriously, but it's grown and I can now see the advantages of it. It's fun.
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Gmail is rarely someone's "personal" email. So far g+ is great for privacy and separating groups of people into each circle, there's a handful of CyanogenMod devs and supporters already in a large g+ group right now- it's a potential tight knit social network. When you create a g+ account, your info are set to private to default, the opposite of FB that sets everything wide open to everyone (and do you think that many people actually look at their privacy settings?).
As far as I know if you have friend1 in circle1 and friend2 in circle2, friend2 will not be able to see your friend1 from cricle1.
Facebook pretty much leaks your info even if you set them all to private, there are plenty of celebrity posers on Facebook and plenty of abusers (see the Vancouver riot with lots of FB users outing their FB friends for just being in a picture even when they did not doing anything illegal).
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Last edited by sookster54; July 3rd, 2011 at 01:33 PM.
I like your post, but I disagree with this. I don't know many people who use Gmail for business purposes, which is how I understand "not personal". Most everyone uses it for personal email because they don't like hotmail/yahoo mail or they have multiple accounts.
At least in the "circle" of friends I know, most prefer Gmail for it's useability and better SPAM filtering.
Google + is weak in the area of finding new friends, but it is stronger in the area of controlling who to share what information with, and organizing friends you already have.
I'm not sure how Google + would do if it was released before Facebook/Twitter, since I'm guessing many of the people with hundreds of friends only ever talk to 10-20 people in real life. So, it's great for sharing with small numbers of people, or people you know from other social networks.
At least it avoids the whole "Hey, you have a hot pic. Wanna chat?" and "Do you wish you had a larger penis?" types of "social networking".
Interesting opinions. My thoughts:
1) G+ is like a mish-mash of Facebook and Twitter in it's set of features, yet the way it's organized, it doesn't really feel like either of them. I find that interesting and like it so far.
2) I'm trying to let the "ooh shiny" reaction wears off before really suggesting it to friends. My friends aren't really the "try new tech stuff" bunch =(
3) I think that, even if G+ becomes mildly successful, it won't ever draw people away from Facebook, unless Facebook really screws something up. They really won't see any reason to. I think most of the world thinks like the friends I have, and for them, Facebook works just fine. They didn't even give a crap when all the Facebook privacy outcries went up last summer.
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I have a question for all the social networking folks. I never had a facebook or any social network. With what you know right now, would you choose facebook or Google plus?
I have a question for all the social networking folks. I never had a facebook or any social network. With what you know right now, would you choose facebook or Google plus?
Google plus. You don't use a social network, but Google+ offers group chat which has nothing to do with ever signing into the social network site.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BiggestManEver
Google plus. You don't use a social network, but Google+ offers group chat which has nothing to do with ever signing into the social network site.
Huddle is pretty cool and it has gtalk integrated too, I think this'll be the hangout for XDA devs and Cyanogenmod devs/supporters, and the likes. I'm definitely going to try and get my family onto G+ and place them into a separate circle since it handles privacy waaaaaaaaaaay better than Facebook does.
Huddle is pretty cool and it has gtalk integrated too,
Can you explain what you mean that it has "gtalk integrated?" I don't see what you mean in there.
Also, G+ needs to integrate Buzz and Latitude better. Right now, when I do a "check in" I have to do it on Foursquare, Latitude, and G+, and that's too much.
Or really, just absorb Buzz... Buzz should be killed and just resorbed into G+.
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Also, G+ needs to integrate Buzz and Latitude better. Right now, when I do a "check in" I have to do it on Foursquare, Latitude, and G+, and that's too much.
Or really, just absorb Buzz... Buzz should be killed and just resorbed into G+.
It's pretty obvious they want to roll Buzz into +. Look at both the Buzz and Google+ widgets. They are identical, except for the little icon on the left side.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BiggestManEver
Also, G+ needs to integrate Buzz and Latitude better. Right now, when I do a "check in" I have to do it on Foursquare, Latitude, and G+, and that's too much.
Agreed.
In addition if you are in one of your associated google services, say youtube or blogger, there needs to be a "share" button from one of those services that lets you post right to your stream.
Id also like to be able to click on a contact and see all posts that person made in google+, gtalk, googlevoice, gmail, you tube or checkin's.
In addition if you are in one of your associated google services, say youtube or blogger, there needs to be a "share" button from one of those services that lets you post right to your stream.
Yeah, same with Picasa as well. I uploaded a few pics the other night and wanted to share with a circle and the only way to go about doing it was sharing the entire album and all I wanted to do was share one or two pictures I had just uploaded. I also found a YouTube video I wanted to share like I would on fb and when I clciked 'share' from YouTube I was amazed to find there was no option to share to Google+ yet.
Not sure why you had a problem sharing images. I found it easy to share individual images on G+. The only thing I'd like it to have is some way to multi-select.
Not sure why you had a problem sharing images. I found it easy to share individual images on G+. The only thing I'd like it to have is some way to multi-select.
What is the process for this? I looked around my Picasa account as well as for an option to share individual picture within Google+ and was unable to find anything to allow me to do this. I had to share an entire album and then tell the other person to look at the last couple pictures. I wouldn't be surprised that there is an option to do this and I'm just unable to find it in my n00bness.
What is the process for this? I looked around my Picasa account as well as for an option to share individual picture within Google+ and was unable to find anything to allow me to do this. I had to share an entire album and then tell the other person to look at the last couple pictures. I wouldn't be surprised that there is an option to do this and I'm just unable to find it in my n00bness.
Create a new post right in G+ and there is an option there to share individual pictures.
Edit: hrm, well it seems the add photos from there doesn't allow you to browse all your picasa albums, just the ones in the 'from your phone' album. Interesting, there must (or should) be a way.
Last edited by gabbott; July 5th, 2011 at 06:16 PM.
Create a new post right in G+ and there is an option there to share individual pictures.
When I click that the option is to share an entire folder or an image from a PC locally. What I'm talking about is sharing an image (imbedded) that has already been uploaded to Picasa w/o sharing the entire folder.
When I click that the option is to share an entire folder or an image from a PC locally. What I'm talking about is sharing an image (imbedded) that has already been uploaded to Picasa w/o sharing the entire folder.
Have you uploaded any pics from your phone using the google+ android app? You should then have an option when you post to post pics that were uploaded from your phone (a new picasa album would have been created). But it doesnt seem you can select individual photos from other albums this way.
It's easy to multi-select pictures from the Uploaded from Phone section. Just click the ones you want, then hit share.
For some reason, the same option doesn't seem to be available when you're looking the "My Albums" section. A pity.
I'm sure it's something that will be rolled out soon. As well as some "Share with all Circles except X" type feature.
Yeah, that's what I was saying. It's not there now but I'm sure it will be eventually. I just wish Google would include a few more features when they beta something so we can test the program and the features both a little more extensively. Just seems their stuff is always in beta and missing basic functionality. That being said I'm excited for this as well as Google Music and the future they both will bring.
Have you uploaded any pics from your phone using the google+ android app? You should then have an option when you post to post pics that were uploaded from your phone (a new picasa album would have been created). But it doesnt seem you can select individual photos from other albums this way.
I upload photos to Picasa all the time with my phone and PCs so I'm very aware of the process. I have also shared pictures directly from my phone to Google+ and yeah, it creates a separate folder by date which I dislike. I prefer organizing my photos by subject and then sharing from that organization. I'm sure it will be something that Google eventually implements but I just wish something so simple would have been included already.
I upload photos to Picasa all the time with my phone and PCs so I'm very aware of the process. I have also shared pictures directly from my phone to Google+ and yeah, it creates a separate folder by date which I dislike. I prefer organizing my photos by subject and then sharing from that organization. I'm sure it will be something that Google eventually implements but I just wish something so simple would have been included already.
Yeah, agreed. It appears for now, you can only post individual pics in a G+ posting that are in the 'Instant Upload' picasa album that is created when using the instant upload feature of the android app.
I'd post feedback to Google, would be nice to have the option to post individual pics from any picasa album, not just that one.
For now, as a workaround, you could copy any individual photos you want to share to the 'Instant Upload' album.
Yeah, agreed. It appears for now, you can only post individual pics in a G+ posting that are in the 'Instant Upload' picasa album that is created when using the instant upload feature of the android app.
I'd post feedback to Google, would be nice to have the option to post individual pics from any picasa album, not just that one.
For now, as a workaround, you could copy any individual photos you want to share to the 'Instant Upload' album.
Yeah, I could do that. May be bumping up against my limit if I start doubling up on stored images unless Google actually just shares the same image to several folders. I'm assuming it actually copies the image to all locations though. Either way, I'm not going to lose sleep over it just yet and will wait patiently until they add that function.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BiggestManEver
Can you explain what you mean that it has "gtalk integrated?" I don't see what you mean in there.
On the bottom left of your page there's "Chat" and names of those who are on your gtalk list or in circles, so your friend you attempt to talk to can be on gtalk on his/her phone while you're on your google+ page.
Yeah, I could do that. May be bumping up against my limit if I start doubling up on stored images unless Google actually just shares the same image to several folders. I'm assuming it actually copies the image to all locations though. Either way, I'm not going to lose sleep over it just yet and will wait patiently until they add that function.
For some photos, it looks like google is offering 'unlimited' storage:
Cool. As soon as I saw they we're using Picasa to host Google+ files I knew it was a matter of time before they raised drastically or eliminated storage restrictions at least for those who had a Google+ account as well.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BiggestManEver
I As well as some "Share with all Circles except X" type feature.
I'm unclear as to what you mean by this. This functionality is already there. When you post your post can be public (which shares with everyone) or you can share with "all your circles", one circle or a selected number of circles.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyness163
The problem I see Google + running into is the same as Wave and Buzz. Its not user friendly to the casual users. It has all the option and integration, but its too "dug in", too complex, too many clicks.
Maybe that's a deliberate design decision on the part of Google. Try and keep all the morons and idiots out, and where they belong....Facebook. Although making things complex didn't keep the idiots away, Myspace was a shining example of that.
Wouldn't use Google+ myself. Have no desire to tell the whole world about everything I'm doing, or being 'social' with a load of people(and cretins) I've never met in my life....see also Facebook. AF and couple of other select forums is about as 'social' as I want to be on the interwebs.
BTW Facebook used to be far better and free from idiots when the joining requirement was an academic email address.
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Last edited by mikedt; July 6th, 2011 at 01:07 AM.
I'm unclear as to what you mean by this. This functionality is already there. When you post your post can be public (which shares with everyone) or you can share with "all your circles", one circle or a selected number of circles.
Sure, I can go through and check all the Circles I want to send it to. But more frequently, I'll want to post to all my circles except "family" or whatnot.
Something that would help with that, would be useful.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BiggestManEver
Sure, I can go through and check all the Circles I want to send it to. But more frequently, I'll want to post to all my circles except "family" or whatnot.
Something that would help with that, would be useful.
Without starting a "semantics" discussion, to me thats exactly what we currently have. Either way you're going to have to click or choose to include or exclude a circle(s).
without starting a "semantics" discussion, to me thats exactly what we currently have. Either way you're going to have to click or choose to include or exclude a circle(s).
Also, G+ needs to integrate Buzz and Latitude better. Right now, when I do a "check in" I have to do it on Foursquare, Latitude, and G+, and that's too much.
Aaaand, with the new update to Google Maps (5.7), they've rolled Latitude into Google+. When I checked in to Burger King today, it gave me the option to share with my Circles in addition to my Latitude contacts.
They're moving faster than I imagined they would!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sookster54
Gmail is rarely someone's "personal" email.
Huh? Many people I know use Gmail for personal use.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sookster54
So far g+ is great for privacy and separating groups of people into each circle, there's a handful of CyanogenMod devs and supporters already in a large g+ group right now- it's a potential tight knit social network. When you create a g+ account, your info are set to private to default, the opposite of FB that sets everything wide open to everyone (and do you think that many people actually look at their privacy settings?).
As far as I know if you have friend1 in circle1 and friend2 in circle2, friend2 will not be able to see your friend1 from cricle1.
Facebook pretty much leaks your info even if you set them all to private, there are plenty of celebrity posers on Facebook and plenty of abusers (see the Vancouver riot with lots of FB users outing their FB friends for just being in a picture even when they did not doing anything illegal).
How do we know Google+ wont leak personal and private information? Either through future changes of policy, changes to the ToS, what a fellow Google+ user might do, user mistakes or mistakes by Google. Just like what happened with Facebook from time to time. BTW Google hasn't exactly got a clean record when it comes to personal and private info and social networks: WARNING: Google Buzz Has A Huge Privacy Flaw ...a similar breach of privacy could happen with Google+.
My thinking is, NEVER put anything on the internet unless I intend it to be public for everyone to read, see or hear. The only exceptions being e-mail and instant messaging.
Last edited by mikedt; July 7th, 2011 at 02:15 AM.
Sure, I can go through and check all the Circles I want to send it to. But more frequently, I'll want to post to all my circles except "family" or whatnot.
Something that would help with that, would be useful.
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This is exactly how it SHOULD work, in my opinion. Privacy should be ON, ON, and ON by default. Who you share information with should be OPT IN, and not OPT OUT.
When I want to share something, I'd much rather choose who to send it to then to have to remember to specify I want something to be private.
Last edited by Slug; July 7th, 2011 at 11:35 AM.
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My Thoughts on Google + vs other Online Social Media (long read)
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