Google+

[Burt]

I decided yesterday to get into Google+ to check it out. Will this be a real threat to Facebook or will it die a slow painful death?

Here are my views, I would love to hear the views of other forumites out there.

1) This is no facebook.

Although Google+ has some facebook familiarities like the "News Feed" or in Google+ terms a Stream. There is something more to google+ than just following friends.

2) Hibernation of Facebook and Twitter

So you can link up with friends similiar to facebook and check out their status updates ect ect. You can upload and view photos. But you can also "follow" people similiar to Twitter.

When you add people to a Circle it doesnt make you their friend, like in facebook. You dont need to "friend" anyone, you can just add them to a Circle and whalla you follow their updates.

3) No more SPAM

This is one of the biggest plus points for me, I dont get to read about other people's daily horoscopes or need to buy anyone a John Deere tractor for their Farms. I Add people to Circles and i see their updates.

4) Video Chat

The one thing missing from facebook is a video calling, and Google+ has given this to you, they call it a hangout. You can do a Group video chat , mute your mic or your video, so people dont actually hahve to hear or see you while you listening in on the conversation.

5) Privacy

With this whole Circle idea, you add people to certain groups, like friends , work ect ect. This means if you post something you can post it publicly and ANY one can read it as long as you are in their circles, Or you post something to specific Circles, so only the people in those circles can read your messages. Also you can filter out your stream based on these circles.

6)Integrated

I like the fact that Google+ integrates with the rest of the google products ie Gmail. You can make posts straight from Gmail

So i dont think Google+ will replace facebook at all, I think it will serve a dual role in social media, So far i like what i am seeing from google. although i do feel the Look and Feel could get a makeover..

You cant use google+ like you use facebook, ie just have your friends , that will get boring and defies the object. You have to add people to circles to follow them ala twitter.

Google+ is still new so needs some work, they also need a reliable Mobile client, currently only provides a client to Android phones and even this one is quite buggy.

They also need to incorporate google maps or google earth into this somehow.

Any other thoughts or tips on making the google+ experience a better one?

Please note i have no affiliation or know anyone in Google, so making suggestions here wont get to them... Just a little disclaimer,

I am merely trying to enhance my Google+ experience by taking in what other people think of the product.

Cheers

Burt

[21yearsoutofrsa]

Facebook has just entered into an agreement with skype and does now provide video conferencing

[Jordy]

I love GooglePlus! I think it is nicer than Facebook. Google+ now has gathered 10 million users in its first 2 weeks. Not bad for something that is only available to a "select few to test the beta version".

The photo upload feature is so much easier than FB. Simply drag and drop into a post.

The circles thing is awesome because now I can have people in a circle that I didnt want on FB.

I love that Google has a different attitude to my personal information than what FB does. G+ wants to protect my info not sell it to make money like FB.

I am still figuring out how to the the twitter like following in G+. I figure I will worry about that later when G+ allows companies/organisations to have profiles.

I am immensly grateful to be rid of those stupid pages that people LIKE - posts of stupid things like "Like this is you think Justin Bieber is cool" or whatever.

[Burt]

I love GooglePlus! I think it is nicer than Facebook. Google+ now has gathered 10 million users in its first 2 weeks. Not bad for something that is only available to a "select few to test the beta version".

The photo upload feature is so much easier than FB. Simply drag and drop into a post.

The circles thing is awesome because now I can have people in a circle that I didnt want on FB.

I love that Google has a different attitude to my personal information than what FB does. G+ wants to protect my info not sell it to make money like FB.

I am still figuring out how to the the twitter like following in G+. I figure I will worry about that later when G+ allows companies/organisations to have profiles.

I am immensly grateful to be rid of those stupid pages that people LIKE - posts of stupid things like "Like this is you think Justin Bieber is cool" or whatever.

For the twitter feel, all you have to do is find the person you want to follow and add it to a Circle, then anything they publish publicly will be visable in your Stream..

I just hope google doesnt go the facebook way and let people develop apps that will spam up the stream area.... But they will have to do something to keep people on G+ .

I agree with you about the personal info stuff. FB is so "agterbaks" when it comes to that , creating new features that allow people to access your data, but dont tell you about it.

Here's hoping G+ just grows and becomes the next big thing..

[Ruan&Mel]

Biggest drawback from Google+ is privacy, as all your information and profile will be available to the public.

[Jordy]

For the twitter feel, all you have to do is find the person you want to follow and add it to a Circle, then anything they publish publicly will be visable in your Stream..

I just hope google doesnt go the facebook way and let people develop apps that will spam up the stream area.... But they will have to do something to keep people on G+ .

I agree with you about the personal info stuff. FB is so "agterbaks" when it comes to that , creating new features that allow people to access your data, but dont tell you about it.

Here's hoping G+ just grows and becomes the next big thing..

I assume they can only see what you post with the public option? So if you post under ciricles they cant see it.

Biggest drawback from Google+ is privacy, as all your information and profile will be available to the public.

I dont think that that is correct. From what I can see you can adjust your privacy under settings. One of the options is total privacy so that you wont even appear in search engines. I have just adjusted mine. The big difference is FB was actively making your details available to companies in order to generate advertising revenue. they allowed app developers to harvest your info. This is the one thing that I hate about facebook and the reason I hope it does fail. I mean why when I want to play a game does the game need to access all my private data as well as all the data of my friends.

[Burt]

I assume they can only see what you post with the public option? So if you post under ciricles they cant see it.

Correct. So public personalities like rugby players ect, can "Tweet" on the public stream and you will see their updates, but if they want to keep it personal they kan just post it to their family and friends circles..

[Jordy]

I never realised that I can add someone without their permission. That is very different to FB. You really have to be careful that when you post that you use the circles.

[Burt]

I never realised that I can add someone without their permission. That is very different to FB. You really have to be careful that when you post that you use the circles.

Yes,

If someone adds you to a circle you will get a notification that you were added to their circle... You can also go to your profile and see who has you in their circles and block them if you want. I am not sure what the BLOCK does, i assume it means they cant see your posts ect ect

But the best is to use your circles correctly.

[Jordy]

Found this article that is helpful on how to change your privacy settings

http://www.pcworld.com/article/235702/how_to_protect_your_privacy_on_google.html#tk.rss_howto