Not another social network! Yep, another social network. Google announced today that they're soon going to be opening a service called Google+ which, hopefully for them, won't go the way of Google Buzz and Wave.
Here's a tour of the main features of the new service/network.
Don't feel like clicking on the link? Here's a brief overview.
Circles: Similar to groups of friends on Facebook, but much simpler, you can organize your friends into circles. This way things you post can go only to those you believe would enjoy it. For example I create a circle of AG friends and upon AG3's release trumpet my excitement to them and them alone.
TL;DR: Circles of friends.
Hangouts: Video chat! Basically you create a hangout select the circles of friends, or the individuals, you wouldn't mind talking to and they can join and leave as they please. Easy way to hang out with friends if you're doing homework or far away.
TLR: Video chat!
Instant Upload: Ever been annoyed by the way you have to do something to upload photos to your other social networks (me either)? If you have the application and an internet connection any pictures you take are automatically uploaded to Google+; I'm assuming this is optional.
TLR: Instant upload.
Sparks:Every been pursuing your newsfeed only to realize most of your friends are exceptionally boring? Well fret no more Sparks lets you select areas that interest you (Android, Politics, Video Games) and creates an aggregated stream of news stories, videos, etc so you successfully ignore your friends and actually be entertained. Would be fun to use with Hangout. And no I don't really get the name either.
TL;DR: Multimedia for your pleasure.
Huddle: This may be the feature that excites me the most, basically it allows you to group text with your circles. Going to a movie with 6 different friends? Why not group text them and save a bunch of time?
TL;DR: Group texting.
Another reason I'm excited is that I believe this will be a great asset to Android (Google's mobile OS) phones. Especially features like Huddle. Which brings me to my next point, it's going to be hard for Google to attract enough users to actually make it a viable Social Network. Luckily for them they have 3 giant advantages. Android, Chrome OS, and Chrome. 500,000 new Android phones are activated daily, what if Google pre-installed a Google+ application on every one of those phones? Even if only 10% of individuals create an accounts that still 50,000 new users every single day. Same goes for Chrome OS and the Chrome web browser. All they have to do is push a simple update that installs the Google+ application to all of Chrome's users and viola, more users.
I'm pretty excited about this, not only do I love the new features but I can see this creating a more mature social network experience. More than that this is going to foster competition with Facebook which is going to have to develop new features.
Seems decent enough, it has plenty of features facebook is missing, but is missing plenty of features facebook has. Is this a replacement of facebook? Doesn't seem like it. Will it be popular? By the looks of it, yes. Considering google is among the biggest things on the internet, everyone will know about it and if it deserves to stand up to facebook, then it has a fair chance.
Google+ is going to end up in second place. Not because Facebook is better, but because it is simple. So there's always going to be more people on it, not to mention it's the first networking site I've seen to actually attract old people. Furthermore, Google things are always changing, constantly updating, in their quest to re-make the cool simple design of their search engine, they've pretty much tried to make everything else too easy. [For example, their phone. Nice, sleek design, but I think nobody bought it because of their 'revolutionary' idea of not sticking it to a carrier, which is customary in the US]. I think Google is going to need a lot of time to make a good social networking tool that can compete with Facebook.
Then again, to me, what Google is doing does not sound like a new Facebook, It sounds like something added on. It, in the tour, is displayed as a tool on the top of your browser, and it is used to connect with people on the net in various forms. It is social networking, but it looks like an addon to Facebook. It's like... the crazy tweaks and addons Facebook doesn't have. For that reason, I'm excited about it. I feel like I can use the two together and have friends to waste time with even more. I don't think there will be any fostering of competition, I think it will be more of ... those who want cool extra features can use them with Google+, all the while constantly updating their Facebook.
Lastly.. Personally, I don't see Facebook ever dying out like MySpace. I mean, Social networking sites are new and MySpace was never really big at all even at it's peak, whereas Facebook was literally able to make tons of people activate social networking accounts. It doesn't look like it's ever going to die slow and forgotten, seriously.
TBH, I don't think "Google+" will take off, Facebook is still dominating the social networking world. Many people won't want to join Google+ if their friends aren't on it, etc, etc.
I remember when Myspace was the best thing for the girls at my school. Now some girls found out about Facebook and got rid of their Myspace. :l
Whoa; people still use Myspace? Mind blown.
Seems decent enough, it has plenty of features facebook is missing, but is missing plenty of features facebook has.
I feel like a lot of those features weren't mentioned because they're assumed to be part of any modern social network. We could be thinking of different features though.
[For example, their phone. Nice, sleek design, but I think nobody bought it because of their 'revolutionary' idea of not sticking it to a carrier, which is customary in the US].
Well Android is an ecosystem not one phone but, yes, the Nexus One flopped because of that.
For that reason, I'm excited about it. I feel like I can use the two together and have friends to waste time with even more. I don't think there will be any fostering of competition, I think it will be more of ... those who want cool extra features can use them with Google+, all the while constantly updating their Facebook.
I can see that happening it'll depend on what features Google adds that they didn't discuss, eg. how similar will it be to Facebook.
TBH, I don't think "Google+" will take off, Facebook is still dominating the social networking world. Many people won't want to join Google+ if their friends aren't on it, etc, etc.
Again Android and Chrome are going to be two huge movers and I can see this catching on with users who either; A) want a more mature social experience or B) want to enhance Facebook as Armed said.
TBH, I don't think "Google+" will take off, Facebook is still dominating the social networking world. Many people won't want to join Google+ if their friends aren't on it, etc, etc.
Just adding on -- I think that's the idea. If they made a new 'GoogleIsTheNewFaceBook.com' nobody would join. Why spend all that time re-friending people, seriously? But, with the ability to do Fb and Google+, you can use both, and over time, you'd have friends on both using whichever you like the best with other people that like what you like, if you get what I mean.
Well Android is an ecosystem not one phone but, yes, the Nexus One flopped because of that.
It's an OS And yeah I was referring to the Nexus. Although, the Nexus S looks nice, I feel like the Nexus's are too... Googly. I'm gonna stick to my iPhone
Again Android and Chrome are going to be two huge movers and I can see this catching on with users who either
Not sure if this was meant towards everybody -- but yeah I wasn't saying that Google itself is losing, it is just losing in some aspects of it's competition. Google Chrome is going all the way, like seriously -- everybody I know uses Chrome. As for Android... I'm glad it's there, but I feel my jailbroken iPhone can take on Android all day
Hmm, seems interesting. I agree with IDSTM, I'm not sure if Facebook will be left in the dust, old and forgotten because of Google+. But, I'm certain it will be popular, or mildly popular. Google knows what their doing. We'll just have to wait and see. Facebook isn't going to be around forever, anyway. And this just might be a decent replacement.
I don't think Google+ will get popular fast. Especially after what happened with Google Buzz. It does have potential. We just have to wait and see. And I bet that if Google+ becomes popular Facebook might "incorporate" most of Google+'s popular features (and maybe tweak them a little) to try and compete against Google and not become the next Myspace. It isthe most popular social network of the decade: I really don't think it's going to give up without a fight.
