Google+

Leo

Well-known member
any thoughts? i just got on, haven't had the chance to explore much. not sure what i'd post there instead of on facebook...or maybe both?
 

Ulala

Awkward Woodward
I haven't used it (though I haven't used Facebook either), but it strikes me as a gesture by Google towards its shareholders/market analysts as much as to its users. It needs to be seen to have a stake in the social networking market, for the (ugh) 'completeness' of its brand. A decent parallel would be Microsoft's creation of Bing - they will never usurp Google's dominance of the search engine market, but it shows they have a broader portfolio of products (ugh 2) and are at least trying to compete, and that satisfies various bean-counters and decision-makers in the industry.

Perhaps a more illustrative analogy would be to compare Facebook to the Nintendo Wii - neither were the first in their respective fields, but both managed to hit upon something unique and draw in loads of new people who had never previously used a social network or played a videogame. Other companies see this innovation and fancy a portion of this new revenue stream. Hence Microsoft and Sony creating new motion-control videogame things and Google entering social networking. If you can tempt even 10% of users away from Facebook/Wii, then that's a pretty big new revenue stream.

Have Kinect and Playstation Move overtaken the Wii? No. Will Google+ overtake Facebook? Well... Facebook completely stomped on myspace, which in turn ruined Friends Reunited, so the precedent does exist. Bear in mind also that Google have tremendous brand loyalty and recognition. I would wager that near 100% of Dissensians use Google for searches - you just do, don't you? - and Chrome and Gmail are also (as far as I can see from limited testimony from friends, etc) well-liked. The amount of people clamouring to join in the Google+ beta indicates that it will be a success, and the unification of browser, email and social network under one umbrella is an appealing concept for many people - you only have to remember one password, for a start. I can't see it eclipsing Facebook overnight, but Google have the finances and resources to make it a strong rival, if not a dominant one. I think if it can be proved to be demonstrably superior (though, as stated, I've not used either so I don't know quite how - more features, more joined-up functions?) then there will be a steady flow of people looking to 'upgrade' - in the same way that DVD gradually usurped video.

I'm still not interested in signing up, though, social networking terrifies me. I'm happy enough with the few real-life friends I have and would rather speak to them on the electric telephone than look at pictures of their holidays or read about what they're having for dinner.
 
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Leo

Well-known member
good points, thanks. from what i gather, privacy settings on G+ are much easier and more straightforward than on FB, which is important to most people. of course, google's not exactly "do no evil" anymore either, but i think a lot of people are fed up with FB's privacy set up.

maybe G+ is a chance to start over on a social network with just the people you really want to be friends with. FB is so popular and mainstream now that i have boring former bosses and aunts/uncles who are on it and became friends with me. i doubt those types will bother with a second platform, so maybe G+ will be more hardcore.
 

ifp

Well-known member
So G+ seems to have died on its arse. Doesn't really seem like Google have been pushing it much after the launch? I'd have thought they'd be rolling out new features every few weeks to keep the attention up.

Very few people seem to be using it, and most of those that do seem to just use it to publish/share blog posts. Bit disappointing really...
 

Ness Rowlah

Norwegian Wood
I used it for about 2 months. Then our little G+network at work died, just the same way it died at with Google's Buzz; so I've closed the G+ bit off (it's not like Google already don't know enough about me through my searches and Gmail).

I've never used F*c*book (not interested in hearing what old classmates are up to) so cannot compare and Twitter seems much better for feeding all sorts of random other interests I have. So I can't see it succeed, but I've been wrong before.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Facebook relies highly upon inertia - people complain about privacy settings all the time (with good reason), but they're all still on there, as are their photos, posts...and their friends.

I find it useful for political micro-communities, and keeping in touch with people I genuinely like who I don't regularly talk to in other ways for whatever reason. I tend to block the posts of people who just use FB out of some if-other-people-don't-respond-i-don't-exist postmodern insecurity (posts about dinner or shopping, when dinner isn't even interesting).
 
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