I write “The Case Against Facebook” and shortly thereafter, Google Plus is released to a small select group.
The news took the internet like wildfire, lighting up Twitter and Facebook with begging and groveling for an exclusive invite. Lucky for me, I know some great people and secured a highly coveted invite to Google+. I feel very lucky to have gotten the chance to play around with Google Plus and provide my perspective.
First of all let me say…
It’s fantastic.
No seriously, it’s great. It’s great in so many ways. Yes there are some bugs and some quirky things going on from time to time, but overall this is not only a good product, it’s a great product. So what’s so great about it you ask? I’ll tell you.
It’s the good parts about Facebook with some HUGE improvements
Networking & Selective Sharing
On G+ you can share photos, interact with friends and family, comment, and like (or +1 in this case).
Similar to Facebook you can selectively share with different groups of people, however G+ has a lot more going for it in that area. To begin, instead of “Groups” G+ has “Circles.” Here’s a HUGE difference. Circles are MINE, and MINE ALONE. No one can add someone else to my circle. I own my groups functionality. In Facebook, everyone in the group owns the group. Anyone can add anyone they want to a Facebook group and tough crap for them, now they’re a part of it. Sure they can leave the group but doesn’t that defeat the purpose?
With circles, I follow and interact with different circles and others interact with their circles, it’s more personalized.
It’s not just what you share but also what you “consume.” Facebook gave us the ability to make friend lists but then made it difficult to find thereby forcing most people into that stupid F-ing “news feed.” It’s so damn noisy on Facebook. I want to see only my family without having to force them to post into the group. Circles allows that. Anything people post publicly or to a circle I’m in would show up in any circle I have them in. Sounds confusing, it’s not really.
Beyond circles I can choose to privately share something with only selected people. I can choose to share with selected people and a circle. I can choose to share publicly but tag someone in the post. Options, options, options, but one thing is consistent, the control is MINE and MINE ALONE. No one else dictates your experience on G+, that’s up to YOU.
G+ Circles takes the best part of Facebook friend lists, Groups and selective sharing and combines it into something much simpler and with far more user-control.
It’s a social network
Did you read that correctly?
Yes, a social network meaning a network of people that socialize with one another.
It’s what Facebook was several years ago before it became everything to everyone.
Google Plus doesn’t have “Which Marvel Character Are You” apps, it doesn’t have Farmville and it doesn’t have 1,000,000 settings to control what information different websites take during the middle of the night and post to your wall. It’s a plain and simple social network!
You know what? That’s awesome. Because one click away I can play Angry Birds in another tab in chrome. Another click away I can check my email. Plus is what it sets out to do, connect people on their terms in a simple, straight-forward way, that THEY control.
Data Liberation
Sure, you can download your info from Facebook. I just happen to like this. It’s plain and simple and one of the six options under settings. Nice and easy.
Is it a Facebook killer?
Anyone who thinks yes is suffering from a delusional episode. Facebook has 700 million users. Let’s be real, Facebook isn’t going anywhere and brands have just invested a ton of money into Facebook. I think it will challenge Facebook, I think it will change Facebook (read as: Facebook will copy some features). Is it going to take down the behemoth? Probably not.
It is an awesome alternative that I surely hope all of my real life friends will use. I for one am excited at the big picture of a socially integrated Google. I still search as much or more than I ever did and Facebook does NOTHING to improve that experience. If you think that Facebook and Bing integration is a step in the right direction you are fooling yourself. All that either Facebook or Microsoft got right was mass adoption.
Should you join Google Plus?
Undoubtedly. Facebook is not the best social network, it’s just the best we’ve gotten so far. It’s in your best interest to see what’s out there. Determine for yourself. It’s all personal preference. In my eyes, the only thing that makes Facebook valuable is that all my friends are there. If they came to G+, I’d connect with them there.
Facebook doesn’t want to be a social network anyway, they want to be a salesforce profiting from the largest database of personal preferences out there. They only care about selling your data, belief in anything else is absurd. I honestly think Google just wants to use plus to provide more relevant search results and search ads. Advertisements are more relevant when people are seeking out something than when marketers seek out a certain demographic to pitch them something.
It’s an opt-in future. I suggest you opt-in. And since Facebook is so fond of opt-out, perhaps one day I’ll get to opt-out of using it for personal use entirely.