A few months ago, I posted a very thorough article about Google + and how it shouldn’t be compared to other social networks. At that time, people were either loving or hating Google +, based off of not a lot of information other than the fact that they liked it upon first sight or not. Now that the social network has been around for a few months, I feel like the love I once had for it has weaned.
In my opinion, Google + hasn’t proved it’s relevancy in terms of social networking. You have to be on Facebook in order to connect with loved ones and friends. You have to be on Linkedin in order to connect professionally with businesses and colleagues. And you have to be on Twitter if you want to be known and branded for your readers. Google + isn’t a “must-have” social network yet. Many people don’t use it because they don’t understand it or it’s not relevant enough for them to use it. In terms of popularity and usability, Google + has a long way to go.
Also, I don’t know about you, but there aren’t a lot of people who are on Google + consistently and that are posting. I may see the same 20 people in my stream when I log in and they are the only people posting regularly. I follow way more than 20 but those 20 are hardcore users—others have signed up for an account but haven’t found value in it, thus they aren’t using it.
Twitter and Facebook are well integrated with one another (you can post your updates on Facebook and have them appear on Twitter and vice versa) but Google + doesn’t share that same integration. And with little to no integration makes it harder for hardcore users of other social networks to use Google + because it’s just one other window or thing they have to open or do to communicate. Remember the adage, less is more?
Time will tell if Google + can sustain itself in the future as a viable social network. Right now, I remain unimpressed, but we also know how fast things can change in social media. But this is Google, the master of the universe. If anyone can do it, they can. So for now, I will continue to see how this all plays out.
What are your thoughts about Google + ?
Well, my feeds are hopping! I have 300 people in my circles and there is a high level of engagement on people’s posts. I do think that people have not yet learned the difference between posting publicly and posting to circles.
I think they don’t understand the concept of circles either.
For me, facebook is the home of the boring and I have deleted all of my friends.
Twitter is for TV Tweeting and general hellos and location updates.
I use Google+ to share information and have actual conversations/discussions about the information that has been shared.
I follow people on Google+ like I do on twitter. I might not know you, but you post things that are interesting to me. I also like the hangout feature. It’s like skype, but better because its basically a video chatroom that can hold many, many users.
Anyway, I hope you stick around for a while. I know you busy people have stuff to do in the real world. 🙂
LOL. How did I know you were going to comment on this one. You are one of the few people I follow who actually post real stuff and not just feeds. I applaud you. And you are the reason I am still on Google +. Because if not, I am not sure if I would even be half as active on there as I am now. You give me hope… 🙂
Because you know me and love me and you know I am a defender of good social media. This is how you knew I would comment.
I have also reshared your G+ post. If you look at my stream, you’ll see that I have a commenter who would “internet marry” GooglePlus. 😛
LOL, I was thinking the same thing “DanniellJ is the only person I know going hard on G+” and here she is :P.
I agree with your comments Wordyless (and checked out your page…now I’m following on G+ & Twitter!).
I LOVE G+. From the start (i.e., not needing to copy), it had sooo many features that I wanted in a social site. I was ecstatic to see them….just sucks not to have that many to share with, because unfortunately, my friends also are not using it much yet. But, I’m patient. Just like it took me forever (years) to join the social media realm (i.e., they had to wait for me), I can be patient. It is just too good of a site to give up on it, so I’m glad you haven’t.
Cubicle Chick,
The article you’d previously written about G+ is how I became aware of you. I still agree with what you said then, and hope that you can hang in there with G+ as well, since I’ve just gotten to know you and enjoy the posts….And I don’t go on Twitter much to view them, don’t always get a chance to go to individual sites, and don’t use Facebook much for following people. 🙂
PdotCF, I hope I have you in my Google + circle. If not, I will add you! I appreciate you reading and commenting, and while I am not a raving fanatic about Google +, I am not willing to throw in the towel on it just yet. I am just hoping others come and post more regularly so it can begin to feel like a real social network to me.
For some reason…I want to LOVE google+ but I forget about it all the time. Maybe I don’t have enough engaging friends in my feed. I honestly do need more!
I’m trying, but the people in my circles aren’t as engaged as on FB and Twitter.
I forget it there, then when I remember I don’t have time to really go in and look around. I’m so used to my way of doing things it’s like I’m maxed out on social networks and G+ gets the short end of the stick.
Google who??? Lol. I tried to get into it. Even put the thing on my phone. I keep forgetting!!!
Aisha, I know, I have to keep reminding myself of it too. *sighs*
It was great to listen to you speak today.
The mistake made by some (including myself) was to see Google+ as a mere alternative to FaceBook. What it is rapidly evolving into is a social network that doesn’t revolve around personal connections (Facebook) or business connections (LinkedIn) but personal interests.
Just prior to October my Google+ was tumbleweed-ville. I had added some family, friends, and acquaintances, but there was little conversation — they were predominately on Facebook. They didn’t need another social network. I thought the G+ features were cool, but without interaction what good is a SOCIAL network.
One of my interests is writing and I participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) every November. So this month I started circle building around those interests. I shared my NaNoWriMo circles with others and they shared theirs in return. I circled other participants and got circled back. I posted some public articles with a #NaNoWriMo tag which caught the interest of others on G+. In the course of three weeks I am up to 750 people who have circled me. I try to post daily and have as many as 40 comments. The growth continues to be staggering — I fully anticipate that this will explode when NaNoWriMo officially begins on the November 1st. I’m not the lone example — other people in my circles have jumped to 1000 & 1500 followers in a similar short period of time. This is with very little effort or social media expertise.
My prediction is that if Google+ survives (I believe it will) it can replace specialized Internet forums and also start to migrate into blog territory.
Try to focusing on something that interests you, photography, cooking, birdwatching, etc. The true power of Google+ is building social communities based on shared interests.