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FeedHand on with: Google+
Posted by Jeremy Paton on Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Under: News
The Google+ Project is now Google's third attempt at taking on the social network giant Facebook, however this time it may not be a "Just smile and wave, boys" affair.
Back in early 2009 Google launched their first attempt at a social network, however at the time it was more a hyped up and glossed up IM (Instant Messenger) service rather than a fully fledged social network. Wave was undoubtedly a complete failure even in the most loyal "Googlers" eyes. Since then Google has stayed relatively quiet about building another social network expect for the controversial Google Buzz service.
Google is taking the plus project more seriously than any other social project before and needs it to be a roaring success, I dare say more serious than any other Facebook competing services has. If any other company wanted to take Facebook on directly, Google is in the best possible position, they have past experience and vast user numbers.
Taking a look into Google+, which by the time you read this may be fully released, but is currently in Field Testing, looks sleek, clean, and fresh, no annoying adverts like Facebook, and some of the features behind it make you wonder how the likes of Facebook never implemented them ages ago.
Circles:
Google+ revolves around the concept of Circles, think the concept of a Circles of friends, everybody assigns people they meet into a different one. Whether they be your "best" friend(s), family, colleagues, etc. By grouping people we know into groups "circles" we can share different content to different people or different groups. This allows one to be in much more control of what they share and with whom. However friends or followers can not see the name of the Circle you have added them to.
In using Google+ I have found it to be almost a combination of Twitter and Facebook into a single clean service. For example I can have a Following Circle which I add people I may not know, but follow their blog, etc. I can then also choose whether or not to share content with them or not. But at the same time I can also have my closest friends or family in another circle and simply control who can view what. I find myself keeping Facebook friends to people I actually know however, Google+ can be as personal as you wish whistle as formal as possible at the same time.
The interface is also clean and slick, almost fun which makes setting up your profile particularly easy. However, I found out just how few of my friends were using the service. I also notice that currently the service is not available to under 18's which was mildly frustrating, though the service will be allowing over 13's when it is fully launched. This is due to a lack of certain security features currently available, for younger users.
Profiles:
Your profile on Google+ is by default public but you have a plethora of visibility options such as; Extended Circles, Circles, and Just You. The profile area is very similar to the traditional Google Profile Area, actually besides visibility settings the interface is identical. Uploading photos and videos is seamless and the usual face-tag features are present. The profile area for me was the most underwhelming aspect to Google+, while its functionality and design have no apparent issues I was simply not captivated by profiles in the same way that Circles captivated me. A useful feature here does allow you to preview what your profile looks like to others, changing depending on how the selected user is associated to you.
Stream:
Stream functions virtually identical to Facebook's news feed, however, sharing content and to whom is made particularly simple, and supports the usual features such as posting; pictures, videos, links and your location. It would however have been nice to see other social services integrated into your stream.
Concerning the integration of other social services into Google+ simply, they are non existent, thus allowing your twitter feed to be pulled into your Google+ stream is not possible and many could argue that the ability to do this in Buzz is what killed it.
Google have stated they want users to create unique content, and it is clear that they want users to create this content within Google+. The synonymous "like" button has been replaced with a +1 button, allowing other friends or followers to +1 any of your posts just like within Facebook, however it would appear that +1(ing) a users post, does not add the post to your +1 page within your profile.
Hang Out:
Hangouts allow you to have video chats with groups of friends simultaneously which is an improvement on Skype video conference as it is free to use, this feature was unique to Google+ for a few days until Facebook launched Facebook Video, which is virtually the same service just utilizing Skype. A slightly annoying aspect to Google+ Hang Out is that it requires the user to install the Google Voice and Video Plugin. In testing the service has been particularly stable and video has been of high quality, however this will in most cases depend on your internet connection.
In conclusion Google+ has by far the best looking service with some interesting and unique features. It would be nice to see other social networks integrated into the service and I would love to be able to use Google+ as the front end to all my other social services. However, the deciding factor for Google+ are users, without your direct contacts using such a service why should you keep using it and it raises the question, just how do we get people to even try out a new service if their friends are not on it. Another question is even if your friends are on Google+, if they are the same friends you have on Facebook and/or Twitter is their really any reason to need another social service. Which I suppose could be the loose brick in Google+'s foundations.
Back in early 2009 Google launched their first attempt at a social network, however at the time it was more a hyped up and glossed up IM (Instant Messenger) service rather than a fully fledged social network. Wave was undoubtedly a complete failure even in the most loyal "Googlers" eyes. Since then Google has stayed relatively quiet about building another social network expect for the controversial Google Buzz service.
Google is taking the plus project more seriously than any other social project before and needs it to be a roaring success, I dare say more serious than any other Facebook competing services has. If any other company wanted to take Facebook on directly, Google is in the best possible position, they have past experience and vast user numbers.
Taking a look into Google+, which by the time you read this may be fully released, but is currently in Field Testing, looks sleek, clean, and fresh, no annoying adverts like Facebook, and some of the features behind it make you wonder how the likes of Facebook never implemented them ages ago.
Circles:
Google+ revolves around the concept of Circles, think the concept of a Circles of friends, everybody assigns people they meet into a different one. Whether they be your "best" friend(s), family, colleagues, etc. By grouping people we know into groups "circles" we can share different content to different people or different groups. This allows one to be in much more control of what they share and with whom. However friends or followers can not see the name of the Circle you have added them to.
In using Google+ I have found it to be almost a combination of Twitter and Facebook into a single clean service. For example I can have a Following Circle which I add people I may not know, but follow their blog, etc. I can then also choose whether or not to share content with them or not. But at the same time I can also have my closest friends or family in another circle and simply control who can view what. I find myself keeping Facebook friends to people I actually know however, Google+ can be as personal as you wish whistle as formal as possible at the same time.
The interface is also clean and slick, almost fun which makes setting up your profile particularly easy. However, I found out just how few of my friends were using the service. I also notice that currently the service is not available to under 18's which was mildly frustrating, though the service will be allowing over 13's when it is fully launched. This is due to a lack of certain security features currently available, for younger users.
Profiles:
Your profile on Google+ is by default public but you have a plethora of visibility options such as; Extended Circles, Circles, and Just You. The profile area is very similar to the traditional Google Profile Area, actually besides visibility settings the interface is identical. Uploading photos and videos is seamless and the usual face-tag features are present. The profile area for me was the most underwhelming aspect to Google+, while its functionality and design have no apparent issues I was simply not captivated by profiles in the same way that Circles captivated me. A useful feature here does allow you to preview what your profile looks like to others, changing depending on how the selected user is associated to you.
Stream:
Stream functions virtually identical to Facebook's news feed, however, sharing content and to whom is made particularly simple, and supports the usual features such as posting; pictures, videos, links and your location. It would however have been nice to see other social services integrated into your stream.
Concerning the integration of other social services into Google+ simply, they are non existent, thus allowing your twitter feed to be pulled into your Google+ stream is not possible and many could argue that the ability to do this in Buzz is what killed it.
Google have stated they want users to create unique content, and it is clear that they want users to create this content within Google+. The synonymous "like" button has been replaced with a +1 button, allowing other friends or followers to +1 any of your posts just like within Facebook, however it would appear that +1(ing) a users post, does not add the post to your +1 page within your profile.
Hang Out:
Hangouts allow you to have video chats with groups of friends simultaneously which is an improvement on Skype video conference as it is free to use, this feature was unique to Google+ for a few days until Facebook launched Facebook Video, which is virtually the same service just utilizing Skype. A slightly annoying aspect to Google+ Hang Out is that it requires the user to install the Google Voice and Video Plugin. In testing the service has been particularly stable and video has been of high quality, however this will in most cases depend on your internet connection.
In conclusion Google+ has by far the best looking service with some interesting and unique features. It would be nice to see other social networks integrated into the service and I would love to be able to use Google+ as the front end to all my other social services. However, the deciding factor for Google+ are users, without your direct contacts using such a service why should you keep using it and it raises the question, just how do we get people to even try out a new service if their friends are not on it. Another question is even if your friends are on Google+, if they are the same friends you have on Facebook and/or Twitter is their really any reason to need another social service. Which I suppose could be the loose brick in Google+'s foundations.
In : News
Tags: "hand on with" "google+" "review"
Welcome to Jesar|Arts, I am Jeremy Paton a freelance web-designer, photographer and student. This is my blog where I will post news about the site as well as a little bit about my day to day life.
