Now that I’ve started to figure it out, I have to say that I like it. Google+ definitely has gotten a few things right. I almost like it more than Facebook! Here’s why.
Google+ Win
The picture viewer kicks some major bootay. It doesn’t pop up on some weird 2nd window in an awkward manner unlike Facebook. Why Facebook decided to change the way we see pictures is beyond me. It was fine before so why did they decide to break it?
Google+ Fail
As of right now, I am unable to post anything to my friends’ Wall. That’s right. I have friends now. No longer is my fiance the only person I know on Google+. I don’t like this much because if the whole point of having social media is to BE SOCIAL, then why can’t I post comments on my friend’s profiles? I mean, that’s how I talk to them IRL so why can’t I duplicate that online?
Google+ Fail
I can’t find all my friends just using their name. I’m almost 100% sure this is because they’re still in beta mode. If they take this out of the testing phase, I sure hope this is fixed because that’s half the fun of Facebook. All I need is their name and I can usually find who I’m looking for….unless they’re like me and changed their name somehow. Damn them!!
Having email search as an option doesn’t really work for me because :
1. I have multiple email addresses so I’m sure some percentage of my friends do too. I’m not about to go through all of them just to find that one person unless you’re super important to me.
2. I can’t remember email addresses for beans.
3. I’m too lazy to hunt down your address in all my different accounts. I’m also too lazy to sync them all into one email database. I need an intern / assistant to do this for me and they have to be willing to do all this literally for peanuts.
Google+ Win
I love Gmail. I love how Google+ is integrated into Gmail. I’m curious to see how and if they further meld the two.
I hate Facebook’s message system in its current manifestation. It’s not like email as there is no subject. It’s just one huge….message separated by dates. That’s fine and all but if I want to find a message I sent from 3 years ago, I do not feel like scrolling backwards reading every single message until I happen to find the one I’m looking for.
Google+ Win
I briefly talked about liking the circles. I like that, from the get-go, you start putting people into the circles they best belong in. This mimics real life in so many ways. I don’t tell my family everything I tell my friends and vice versa. I also don’t tell my acquaintances all the things I share with my close friends though I do share everything I tell acquaintances with close friends.
You know what I mean?
That’s what makes Google+ so much more intuitive in feeling for me. Facebook has the option of filtering friends but it is a pain in the ass to do so initially. I know because I filter people. You have to set up a new filter first and then start adding people to it. Facebook’s approach is to treat every one you “friend” as an equal unless you remember to filter them appropriately when you friend them. That’s not how real life is.
It’s also super easy to move people around in your circles. Again, this mimics real life.
In Conclusion
I’m curious to see what and how Google+ changes. One thing I do know I’d like them to change is being able to move and organize my circles the way I want them organzied.
If done right, I can totally see how they’re going to give Facebook the battle of its life. From what I’ve seen and tinkered with so far, I’m liking it a lot. Time will tell if I like it enough to jump ship and let my Facebook account fall into the Abyss with my Asian Ave, Friendster and SuckSpace accounts.
A major factor that will determine whether or not I’ll abandon Facebook is how Google+ will approach the issue of user privacy. I hope they learned a thing or two from Facebook’s stumbles in this area along with the recent backlash against Etsy for violation of privacy. Just because we’re choosing to share our lives online does not mean we do not care about who gets to profit from it or if it gets shared without our consent.
Bonnie N. Clyde is a writer for YouBentMyWookie.com and the alias of the Supreme Commander / Ultimate Destroyer. When she hiding from people on Google+, she writes in her blog over at MissBonnified.com