Google Plus; an overview

Google Plus or Google+ or G+ has now been out and about for roughly a week, and I was fortunate enough to get to play with it quite early on. I know that lots of people haven't as yet, so this is an overview post so that when you DO, you'll have some idea of what you're looking at. (Please note: I don't have any invites to give out and I've tried several different ways to share access already. If/when I do, I'll be sure to let people know via my Twitter feed.)

G+ 'Stream' or home page.

The stream page that you'll see is very similar in many respects to the Facebook home page.

Elements of the page.

The black Google bar across the top of the screen is the first really important thing to notice. Google is starting to pull all of their various offerings together now, and this is their 'one bar to bring them in, and in the darkness find them'. Wherever I am in Google I'm getting used to seeing this bar, and it's the way that I generally can get into G+. The importance of this bar can't be overestimated - Facebook keeps people on their site for as much as they possibly can, but Google can't do that, so can only remind us that it's there by using something like this. Furthermore, the 'Picasa' and 'Blogger' names are being retired, to be replaced by Google Pictures and Google Blogs to further emphasis the brand. The little grey box to the right hand side of the screen tells me if I have any notifications waiting for me, and the larger, lighter grey bar (and grey seems to be becoming a standard for Google these days) allows me to share content directly into my stream. It's fairly basic though, so it's not quite a blogging option, and I'd like it to be able to also share to Twitter etc.

The grey bar below is an administration type of bar for G+ which allows me to find people, check my profile, look at my circles and so on.

Left hand menu

This links me to my Stream, the different circles that I have, incoming, notifications and my Sparks, as well as links to chat with various people. (These terms are explained further down the post.)

Stream

These are the posts or things that are being shared with me from the people who I am following. They are a bit like my Twitter feed, and can contain information, links to pages, images, or video for example. I can also tell 'the world' what I'm doing, and can choose who gets to see this information. I can therefore target my messages quite closely, in the same way that I can in Facebook, but which I can't in Twitter. It's a very nice implementation.

Under each post I can comment, share, +1 it, if the originator of the post allows this. G+ then starts to thread responses, and I am informed of new additions both via the stream itself and the notification box top right. If a posting gets a lot of responses I can 'mute' it, so that I don't see any more, which is a helpful option.

Right hand menu

This is where I can see my contacts - photographs if they've chosen an avatar in their Google profile, blank if they haven't. If you haven't set an image in your profile, can I suggest that you do so, as it'll make you instantly more recognisable. And if you don't yet have a Google profile, this would be the time to actually explore getting one, along with a Google account.

Posting content

In order to post content you simply write it into the stream box.

Once you have done that, you can choose who you wish to share your message of wisdom with. It can be a specific individual (this is poor by the way - it's not been done as smoothly as with either Facebook or Twitter), a specific email address, or with a specific circle or circles. I can also make it public to all of my circles, my colleagues circles or generally public. If I want to add in an image I can do so by clicking on the camera option, and ditto for the video, link or place. If a post is long it can be expanded, and it's also easy to see who the post can be seen by, as you'll get an indication next to the title:

The timestamp is also useful, in that it provides you with access to that particular post, in the same way that you can link to a specific blog post for example. The example I'm using is:

https://plus.google.com/115744616631708814401/posts/CaKLW4jfG3u?tab=mX

The small pulldown menu on every post allows you to link to it, report abuse, mute the post, or block the person.

Google Circles

These are the way in which you arrange your contacts. You can have a circle with one person in it, or thousands. You can create as many of these as you wish, and people can be in more than one circle. When you add someone to a circle they'll know that they are in one of your circles, but won't know what it's called. This aspect is a little like Twitter lists or Facebook groups, but it's much easier to limit a posting to a circle or number of circles. Unfortunately, you can't appear differently to different circles, so I can't have a work face or friend face for example. This is something of a shame I think.

In order to put people in circles you have a choice. Easiest is to click in the light grey admin box to see your existing circles - this is where you can add new ones as well. Simply click and drag people into the appropriate circle or circles:

I've already found that I tend to spend most of my time within circles; it's easy and intuitive. My main stream is a real hotchpotch of friends, clients, colleagues in much the same way that you find with the Facebook stream. By clicking to just read a circle it's as though I've left the general 'public bar' area, and moved off into a side room. It almost feels quieter in fact!

I can also add people to circles by clicking on the people that Google has suggested I follow and assigning them to a circle, or by clicking on my notifications to see who has added me to their circles and I can then (if I wish) reciprocate.

I can also read the content from people that I don't have in circles by choosing to click on the 'Incoming' menu option on the left hand side of the screen. This shows me what people are posting who I don't already have in a circle. I do try and put everyone into at least one circle and keep this stream of miscellany as short as possible.

Sparks

For me, the Sparks option is so weak it's useless as it currently stands. It seems to be Google's attempt to provide you with current awareness on things that are of interest. There are 'featured interests' which are a strange mix, and you can't get rid of them, which is ridiculous.

I don't care about most of this stuff, so why is it being forced upon me? Clicking on a link provides me with content from a fairly eclectic set of sources - Youtube, Yahoo Sports, Huffington Post, newspapers and websites. The bias is VERY strongly American, and there's nothing much I can do about that. I can click on the search option to find stuff that I'm interested in, and then this sits within the left hand menu. While I can share what I find, I can't affect the delivery of content or where it comes from. This is really disappointing - this could be a variation on Google Reader, where I can choose specific RSS feeds, searches and so on, but no. A very blunt tool indeed. Let's hope that this gets fixed quickly.

Hangouts

This is going to be one of the killer applications for G+ as it allows you to create a nice friendly video chat function. Simply click on the 'Start a hangout' green menu bar bottom right, and you'll get to see something like this:

It's nice and simple to use, and I suspect will be much less intimidating for people than other chat options. Each hangout is limited to 10 participants, so you can end up with a queue of people waiting to get in and chat to/with you. I've not actually tried this yet, so can't comment further, but feedback has been very positive.

It does have a downside though, in fact several. Not only are the numbers limited, you can't have an audience, so the idea of panel discussions, with people sending in questions - either via G+ or something like Twitter doesn't work - that's a huge shame. You also can't save a chat either, so it's not really designed for any broadcasting other than instant. I'd also like the ability to add in links to sites, use a whiteboard, pull up documents and so on. This would make it an idea training tool.

Photographs

You can add your own photographs to your profile, and can of course use Picasa. Picasa (or rather, Google Pictures) is essentially giving unlimited storage space now, which is going to be a direct challenge to both Facebook and other sharing resources such as Flickr. Simply upload images, add captions, tags and if you wish you can do some basic editing.

If you want to see the images that other people have uploaded, just click in the light grey admin bar at the top of the screen.

Other thoughts and ideas

Well, it's still early days. However, you can do a small amount of formatting within posts, and can embolden, italicise or strike through using the *, _ and - symbols at either end.

If you want to refer to someone specifically in a post that you're writing, you can either +name or @name them.

You can edit your posts with the pulldown menu - I mentioned it above, but this is what the option looks like:

If you want to see what your profile looks like, simply click on your name (top left hand menu option) and choose to edit profile. You can then choose to see what your profile looks like to any other individual or the world at large.

This is a really nice and simple way of working - you can quickly see exactly what you're sharing with other people - unless the privacy disaster that is Facebook.

You can quickly tire of the notifications that you get sent. I like getting emails, so I just created a filter for them, but you can turn them off/on as necessary. Click on your name in the black Google bar, choose Account Settings, then the G+ option. Simply go through the options and change them as necessary.

Summary

Well, I like it. I know that I bash Google a lot, but equally I'm happy to praise them. I think Google+ is really good. I feel immediately at home using it, and it's pretty intuitive. The 'hangout' feature is the killer app, as I mentioned in my earlier post. I like the integration with their other products, and love that I can check and keep an eye on G+ when I'm elsewhere in Google. Sure, there are lots of things that it doesn't do well, and other things it should do but doesn't, but on the whole - I think it's good. Is it a 'Facebook killer' though? No - and it won't be. I'm not interested in the 'something killer' style of thought - it's fairly stupid IMO. G+ is an addition to Facebook. I suspect that when Google opens up G+ to everyone we may well see a filtering out of folks from one place to another. Facebook was/is a place that I have work contacts as well as friends, but I may in future try and shift work folk across to G+ and keep Facebook just for friends. This is slightly more of a threat to LinkedIn than Facebook in fact.

However, in order for this to work, G+ has to appeal to corporates. They have to be able to feel confident to move or add a G+ option to their Facebook presence. That's going to be very hard to achieve, unless Google can offer some sort of incentive to them. We also need to really see the impact of using the +1 option in search, which isn't really incorporated at all at the moment. This is madness on the part of Google, as they really do need to fully integrate search into G+. This isn't happening at the moment and it is going to be absolutely necessary in the future.

I'm irritated that it's taking so long for Google to sign people up. I can understand why they want to do this in a measured way, but they ARE Google - and should have the capacity for the rush. Until I've got all my contacts on board, this is a nice resource, but not a requirement. The sooner this happens, the better. If you don't have an account, put your name down, and just keep plugging away until you can get in. Apparently the doors will open to the world and her husband at the end of July if the worst comes to the worst.

I'm looking forward to more from G+ - better integration, more options, improved Sparks, better Hangout, the incorporation of search and +1. Apparently Google Games are also on their way, but I think I'll happily leave that all up to Facebook. I don't know if Google has got it right this time, but it's a much better start than the Wave and Buzz fiascos.

 

Comments

[scott]

I've ben planning a mini review of this too - but had yet to work up to it. Pretty much agree though. Not a facebook killer, but quite well done and if you're a gmail user, and have that open a lot, prob going to use it a lot ... unless of course your browser doesn't support (see my lastest blog!)

[Katr]

I waited 10 days, to be able to register and yesterday.. surprise! I'm on Google+ now. In my opinion it looks more clear than facebook. I'm going to test it now.

I think that’s a great idea and a perfect use. Plus, I like the “drop in” nature of that… if you create a circle with all of your students, you get put up the hangout, Google + will announce that you are around and they can drop in for episodic help.

[Bulk SMS Reseller]

stunning,Great stuff ! Thanks for sharing. Started knowing google+ project.