If you called me a Google fanboy, I would most likely smile and nod. I make no argument against it, because it's true. But on the other hand, I try to be honest and unbiased when suggesting Google products to others, and that is what I will be doing now. Today, I will try to explain my opinion (hey, it's my blog, I can have an opinion) of why Google+ is better than the juggernaut, Facebook.
Everyone knows Facebook. Love it or hate it... you use it. There are over a billion monthly users of Facebook, and with a 5 year head start on Google it's unlikely that the mammoth social network worries too much about the competition from Google+. But perhaps they should, as Google+ really is a great network. Let me tell you why...
To keep it simple, I'm going to break it down into segments so it's easier for you to digest. Of course... the good stuff first:
At first sight, G+ bears a striking resemblance to Facebook. The screen you first get to is your stream. Like Facebook, it contains all the posts made by your friends... err.... well... the people you put into circles. Which is where we break apart from Zuckerberg's baby.
Circles - The early idea behind Google+ was how people categorize their friends. Their answer: Circles. Facebook does let you put people into categories, friends, family, etc. and share to just that group. And that is a problem. What if you want to share to 2 groups? 3 groups? You would have to make a separate post for each group. With Google+, you can place people into numerous different Circles and share to as many Circles as you want. Oh, and you can name each Circle however you want! The only person that sees them is you.
Communities - This is a new feature that was rolled out to the masses just over a week ago. I joined Facebook on September 10, 2008. I feel like I have had more interaction with people in Communities on G+ in just one weeks' time than I've ever had on Facebook. Simply search for things that interest you, and there will be a community (or many!) for you to join. Then dive in and start a conversation! No friend requests necessary. Think of it this way, if your circles are like the street you live on... then Communities is the mall. Lots of people, lots of things going on. And if you don't want to deal with all that... then leave the mall! It really is that simple.
Hangouts - Video chat has been around for many, many years. Programs like Skype built their empire on video chat, and it's becoming more prevalent every where you look. Google's email client, Gmail, has had video calling built in for a few years now, and Yahoo and AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) are two other very popular video chat programs. But the difference between Hangout's and all the rest... are the people. A Hangout can accommodate up to 10 people at the same time. And with Hangouts-On-Air, you can share your Hangout live on YouTube, so non-participants can enjoy it too. This has been quite popular with the podcasting crowd.
Games - Perhaps one of my favorite features when Games on G+ launched was how they approached it. On Facebook, there was a time when my wall was just being flooded with game notices; Help me with my farm, I just scored 4 billion points on Bazinga, I need you help with the Mafia! Needless to say, I grew tired of this extremely fast, and had to go into the settings, select each game and tell it that I didn't want it to bother me anymore. On Google+, the Games have their own page, separate from your main stream. Meaning that you will never see the messages from any game until you visit the Games page. Honestly, it's the little things like that that make me a Google fan.
And, to me, by far the most attractive aspect to Google+....... no ads. No ads, no featured posts, nothing on the main stream trying to sell you something. I don't feel like I need to say more about that.
Google+ is still a fledgling social network at only a year and a half old. It launched on June 28th, 2011, and I was invited to join just 2 days later so I have had the pleasure to watch it grow from the often reported "ghost town" that it was, to now having over 500 million users, and that number is sure to grow with the introduction of Communities. But it hasn't always been smooth sailing. Even the powerhouse that Google is it can still make mistakes...
There hasn't been an issue like the privacy debacle with Google Buzz, but there have been some annoyances (but not many) with building out Google+. One was the roll out of Events. Events allowed G+ users to... well... make an event. Set up an event, date, time, description, etc., and send out invites to those in your circles. That last part seemed to be a little tricky. For the more popular people on G+, their email and G+ notifications started running rampant with invitations to all sorts of things. I can certainly understand the aggravation by those affected. This was a problem, but it was a problem that was fixed in a matter of days.
Another issue is a current one having to do with Communities. It seems that all posts from the communities you join are showing up in your stream. With the amount of people I've seen complaining about it, you can bet that some sort of fix will be implemented very soon. As far as complaints go... that's all I've got!
Google may have gotten a late start to the social network game, but I believe they are here to stay, and they are winning over users with a better quality product. It's unlikely that I will delete my Facebook account for favor of Google+, but it has come to the point that I really dislike going to Facebook. I still do, of course, because my family is there. Google+ may be great, but it still doesn't have the user base that Zuckerberg & Co. have.
At least... not yet.
And, to me, by far the most attractive aspect to Google+....... no ads. No ads, no featured posts, nothing on the main stream trying to sell you something. I don't feel like I need to say more about that.
Google+ is still a fledgling social network at only a year and a half old. It launched on June 28th, 2011, and I was invited to join just 2 days later so I have had the pleasure to watch it grow from the often reported "ghost town" that it was, to now having over 500 million users, and that number is sure to grow with the introduction of Communities. But it hasn't always been smooth sailing. Even the powerhouse that Google is it can still make mistakes...
There hasn't been an issue like the privacy debacle with Google Buzz, but there have been some annoyances (but not many) with building out Google+. One was the roll out of Events. Events allowed G+ users to... well... make an event. Set up an event, date, time, description, etc., and send out invites to those in your circles. That last part seemed to be a little tricky. For the more popular people on G+, their email and G+ notifications started running rampant with invitations to all sorts of things. I can certainly understand the aggravation by those affected. This was a problem, but it was a problem that was fixed in a matter of days.
Another issue is a current one having to do with Communities. It seems that all posts from the communities you join are showing up in your stream. With the amount of people I've seen complaining about it, you can bet that some sort of fix will be implemented very soon. As far as complaints go... that's all I've got!
Google may have gotten a late start to the social network game, but I believe they are here to stay, and they are winning over users with a better quality product. It's unlikely that I will delete my Facebook account for favor of Google+, but it has come to the point that I really dislike going to Facebook. I still do, of course, because my family is there. Google+ may be great, but it still doesn't have the user base that Zuckerberg & Co. have.
At least... not yet.
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