Google+ or Google Circles or G+, as some are choosing to call it, is the new social network on the block. You can read great overviews here, here and here. The curious thing is that it gets no coverage in this month’s Wired magazine but is arguably the biggest thing in tech, networks and online right now. But that is surely for another blog about the pace of print.
Google+ then…
It looks good, there is no clutter. Gone are the days of generating your own html code for a terrible MySpace profile and the parasitic Apps that Facebook suffers from are (currently) not evident in Google+. Keep it simple never worked so good.
It is the myriad opportunities that Google+ affords that make it such a compelling social network. This piece about what Google should offer brands is near spot on. Moreover, it highlights the driving force behind what Google+ is and will be. A social network where user input is valued, changes, new features and yes, sweet sweet privacy are driven by consumer demand and not thrust upon the user a la Zuckerberg and his book of faces. The collaborative nature of Google+ and its features already sets it apart.
I can see that I will use Google+ as an internal comms network, no need for Yammer et al.
I can see that I will use it as a sCRM system to segment and communicate what I want and with the right people. Targeted comms were made for Circles or vice versa
I am using it to connect with (supposedly unreachable) people. I can be part of their conversation and not just a bean counted in their Twitter metrics.
Localisation is going to be more usable than ever, again via Circle based segmentation.
Could it be used as the main communication/website hybrid for business, big and small, why not? Im not saying websites are dead but I think it could sit pretty as destination 2 for a business, with Facebook pages 3rd and Twitter 4th.
G+ commerce…one day but F commerce isn’t exactly setting the world on fire right now
I find it is making me consider audience more, yet helping me reach more and wider.
I have spotted some netiquette issues already. This article, the one you are kindly still reading here, in essence, it is a blog post –arguably it is a Google+ based stream of consciousness. But where should it go? Not bound by a 140 character limit, it could go straight into my stream on Google+ (and get more comments) but I am still a stickler for the long tail benefits of content and blogs.
Game-changing, even if it just becomes a niche business/geeks/marketers network, yes. Challenger to Facebook? Not likely, I don’t really think it needs to be.
Sparks, they’re rubbish (at the moment)
Quora, now redundant.
Networking and online communication dynamics; Google+ allows varying dynamics under one roof. One user’s categorisation of individuals into a circle may differ wildly from someone else.
Can it enter the everyday behaviour of many? Can you G+ along to TV like you can with Twitter? I don’t think the dynamics of regular updates in the stream would be tolerated, unless of course you create a reciprocated Circle of those that tolerate fast and furious updates about XFactor etc
Scalability – just you wait for more people to get on board, will it be manageable? Time will tell.
I could go on, I want to go on. I want to write about the need for integration with Evernote, Buffer and Twitter. Heck, integration with other products that belong to Google.
Google+ is work in progress, no one refers to it as “in Beta” but you can beta your bottom dollar or Empire Avenue groat that this is early days, toe-in-the-water stuff before the invitation wall comes down. There is much wrong with Google+ but then there is a great deal wrong with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and MySpace…
Tell me what you think and do feel free to disagree vehemently with anything I have said.
