This week I've witnessed numerous Facebook statuses requesting invites to Google+, quickly followed by declarations to the tune of: "It's just Facebook by Google".
Quite obviously the layout to Google+ resembles that of Facebook's and there are surely reasons behind this. People don't respond well to change. Can you think back to the last few times Facebook has changed their layout? Do you recall an onslaught of posts and groups related to 'Bring back the old Facebook!!'?
I've always loved watching this aversion to change. Everyone freaks out at the thought of having to do something differently or learn something new. This phenomenon can be witnessed in so many everyday life situations: politics (new carbon tax!?), menu options (no more steak cut fries!?), beauty products (favourite hair colour discontinued!?), etc, etc. Change is introduced, we react wildly, time takes toll, we get used to the new and it eventually becomes the norm. Rinse. Repeat. It happens as ordinarily as washing your hair.
Surely Google+ has introduced this layout so as to make the transfer from one social network platform to another as seamless as possible. Over time I'm sure new features and layouts will be introduced (and reacted to), but for now I presume Google is trying not to scare everyone away from having a play. Similarities aside, there are quite a few interesting features to Google+:
+1s
Ever since 'liking' something on Facebook turned into either a marketing endorsement or a novelty button for all things worthy of waving a stick at, I’ve stopped liking things (on Facebook, that is).
What I like about +1s is that you can go to a person’s profile and see what they’ve uncovered in their recent time spent online. If I share close taste with a friend, I know to check out their +1s to let them do the work of finding items of interest online. Or if I’m just curious to see what my acquaintances have been perusing online, now all I have to do is click over to see the online paths they’ve followed.
Circles
Upon playing with Circles as a ‘friending’ feature, I realized that I could essentially follow whomever I wanted to, like I would with Twitter, and see much more than 140 characters. I also like the idea of being able to cater various aspects of my online presence to personally picked portions of people. Google+ is encouraging the creation of very specific social groups - ‘Art Crew’, 'B-ball Team', 'Film Class'.
Spark
Google has dabbled in internet search. And by dabbled I mean laid the foundation for and revolutionized. It’s no surprise that they’ve included their forte into this framework. The spark feature is like having easily accessible Google alert tags (coined 'interests') that make specific searches simple to share. As per the below, nerding out online is now considered cool conduct.
Huddle
I have yet to play with this feature, but I love the way it’s presented in the video. Huddling here refers to gathering a few people together and starting a virtual conversation before meeting up in person. I’ve witnessed many a Facebook status compile 37 comments worth of friends trying to agree on a place to go out for dinner before a show. Why not have a huddle and figure things out in your own special space?
Hangouts
It’s been done before, but here it’s free and integrated into your social circles. Hangouts allow for video chat between up to 10 people. I get the impression that not everyone is comfortable with video chat, as of yet. It can be very straightforward and even intimidating for some. But for those who can comfortably make use of it, it should be taken advantage of. Google has put some thought into this feature, it figures out which person is talking and focuses the video stream on them until someone else takes over. I’m looking forward to trying it out with friends back home, whom I’d love nothing more than to hangout with in the comfort of my own home. Hangouts could also be useful for meetings or brainstorm sessions in a conference type setting with collaboration teams or peers.
Instant Upload
Last but not definitely not least, the instant upload feature is one of my favourites. Over the past few days I've found myself taking more pictures on my phone. Normally I would feel overwhelmed by the many ways that I could share the capture (instagram, flickr, facebook, picasa??). Just knowing that the images in my surroundings are easy to share with specific people or social groups made me snap away at the chance to show something off and start a conversation. For those of you without a handheld Google machine: finally I have something you envy! (I’m sure there will be iPhone versions for you soon).
One last seal of approval I’d like to stamp – the integration of all your Google products in one place is undeniably convenient and will surely become more agile as everyone jumps on board.
Google is intermittently opening the invitation flood gates on a daily basis. As of yet, it’s hard to fully understand and take part in the experience that Google+ is setting out to provide. Nonetheless, my initial sentiments are (quite clearly) positive and open to new possibilities. I can’t help but hope that this causes a stir in social network platform development.
What do you think of Google+? Can and should it compete?
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