posted Jul 9, 2011 6:57 AM by Jeff Karpinski
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updated Jul 9, 2011 8:36 AM
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Google's answer to social (and Facebook) has been in a limited beta release the last week and some change. I've been fortunate to be in since the beginning and with a brief open window of invites yesterday, was able to get the rest of my friends in. So, after a week of tire-kicking I must say, I'm initially impressed.
Google has done far worse with product rollouts in the past - remember Buzz? Plus is quite stable right out of the gates, addresses many of the complaints of Facebook, and offers some very interesting new features. Is it a Facebook killer? Unless FB does something really stupid that causes a mass exodus, I seriously doubt it. By the very nature of "social networking", there's more similar between FB and Plus than different. The "wall" is now a "stream". You post pictures, links, videos and check-ins to your stream. Visibility of your posts are managed by "circles"; groups of your friends and acquaintances you set up. Photos are an integral part of Plus; in fact, linking to (or setting up) Google's Picasa is a requirement of joining Plus. Like FB, text chat is right on the home page, but a far more interesting and compelling option also exists...
So what's different from Facebook? - Hangouts. Group video chat with your friends. At first, this may seem strange but it's really, really cool. Open a Hangout and your friends can pop in just to say good morning or stay longer and shoot the breeze. Hangout's UI works extremely well, is intuitive, and may very well become Plus' killer feature. FB just announced skype integration but it's one-on-one, not group based.
- Circles. Yes, FB has friend lists, but they always felt unwieldily. As soon as you join Plus, you're introduced to Circles and it's a forehead-slapping moment when you realize how incredibly intuitive they are.
- Your data is YOURS. Right from your Plus account settings, export ALL your data.
- Sparks. Basically a next-gen version of RSS, Sparks allows you to define things that are interesting to you and google news searches the Internet and presents results to you in a very clean format.
- Mobile app. Not just an afterthought but a really elegant, polished app that is google's secret weapon to widespread Plus adoption. Posts, check-ins, group chat (called Huddles), and outstanding photo integration all from one application. With 500,000 android activations a day (iOS app coming soon), Plus doesn't need to be a FB "killer".
- Open. We'll see how well google delivers on this promise, but the word is, Plus will be fully open with published APIs. No "walled garden" like Facebook. Additionally, profiles are always public. While you can manage what data is visible to whom, your core profile is open to the world.
What's missing? - Commercial. Businesses are not (yet) welcome to Plus. In fact, if a business tries to set up a Plus profile, the google overlords will delete it. They say a business-friendly version of Plus is in the works. I do think this is important. If there's one thing I miss from FB it's following my favorite breweries, etc for updates.
- Calendar. No event coordination with your friends. Obviously, google has excellent calendaring so surely it's only a matter of time before it gets integrated into Plus.
- Games. No Farming or Cow punching (yet). Surely they're coming but I can't say I'll welcome the nonsense.
- Product consistency. Plus leaves some other google apps like Buzz, Latitude, and Reader in an awkward state. Buzz and Latitude should arguably just go away as their functionality is essentially duplicated in Plus. What's confusing is just last night, google added Buzz to the Plus user profile page. Does this imply it's sticking around? Reader is significantly more feature-rich than Sparks, but its user base is absurdly small. Should google kill it? Beef up Sparks?
- Mail. Gmail has clearly been kept at arms length from Plus. Interesting considering Buzz was directly integrated into Gmail. Do we even want or need email inside our social UI?
Time will tell how Plus holds up after the new car smell wears off, but for now, I'm really digging it and plan to stay. I rather hope my friends do to, even if for nothing more than Hangouts. Having friends pop in and say hello during the workday is my very definition of effective social networking. Not Cow punching.
You can find me on Google+ here. |
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