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My Thoughts on Google + vs other Online Social Media (long read)

Flyness163

Newbie
Nov 23, 2009
36
3
ATL
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.
 
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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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
 
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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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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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Gmail is rarely someone's "personal" email.

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".
 
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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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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.
 
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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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