MARGAUX ZION

I’ve been getting TONS of tweets/FB messages/emails in the last few days asking for feedback on the new G+ product and I am ready to rock with my [scathing] commentary! I will try to provide a basic outline of what it is, how it works, and then get real with you on what to do with it. 

1. What is Google+ in one sentence?

Facebook in the style of the Googleverse. 

2. What makes it different than Facebook?

Google+ has a few added features. Read on:

CIRCLES:

This feature is similar to Facebook Privacy lists, but is more prominent in the Google+ platform. With G+, you don’t actually send friend requests as you do with Facebook, you may simply add users to customizable circles, essentially assigning them to friendship and/or security levels. This helps you set up your own database of friends, segmenting them for different content access. (Big shoutouts to Professors Slusarek and Monaco at FIT for making me think about my social networks as Social CRM.)

BROADCAST CONTROL:

Every time you post a status update on Google+, You may reserve the update to be viewed only by certain Circles, all Circles, or the Public. This is a white list approach as compared to the restrictive blacklisting enabled by Facebook security settings.

You can also add location tags to status updates in addition to [Facebook standard] photos, videos, and links. You may designate the update to be seen by your entire network, or specify visibility to subsets of friends. [Circles] Location-based services on Facebook are currently limited to checkins, a feature I personally reserve exclusively to Foursquare.

CHAT:

People have been raving about the “Hangouts” feature. This is essentially a video chat room. I do say that it sounds cool, and with a similar announcement from Facebook earlier this week, the match is pretty even. Personally, I look like a trainwreck 98% of the time I am social networking for personal use and avoid the use of any live video for this reason. If I worked in an office at a tech company and needed to video conference with my team in San Francisco, this would of course be a useful feature. Then again, I wouldn’t be doing it through my personal network. [ZING!]

FAQ:

Q: What is a +1?

A: A +1 is the equivalent of a Facebook “Like.” There is a feed in your G+ profile where you can refer back to any content you have +1’ed, to reference later or add comments to. I like this because you can’t really refer back to historical Facebook Likes. I have to remember to bookmark content with my browser or social bookmarking site when otherwise using Facebook.

Q: Margaux, do you like Google+?

A: Ehh. Not yet. This is why:

1. It is a first party platform. This means I HAVE to be a Google subscriber to use the service. I am only able to assign one Gmail account per G+ profile, and cannot feed in my contacts from other email addresses aside from Yahoo! and Hotmail. (Can’t link other Gmails, AOL, corporate, private domain ESPs, etc… yet, hopefully.) I have 7 active email addresses, and need to have the availability to “be” each of them on my personal networking profile. If I can’t link all into one greater social network, and broadcast content out through filters of circles, then the product is not useful to me as a media manager.

For most users though, this is not the case. If you are a Google fanboy/girl, and all of your friends are as well, (and already use Gmail, Picasa, and other Google products…) then rock on. This is Zion for you.

2.  I cannot invite contacts from Facebook. (Of COURSE, as this is the competition.) I have heard of a Google Chrome browser plugin, but I do not use Chrome at this time, (and personally prefer tech product diversity for security reasons) so I will not be testing this patch.

3. Understanding online behavior is the key to strengthening your network. With every new platform comes a new community. You cannot perfectly convert your Facebook friends to G+ without any losses. Actually, if you are lucky, you will only be able to convert 10%-20% of your social community to the new network. Your Facebook will NOT be your Google+, and if you want to hang onto the contacts and content of your Facebook life, then you need to stay there for now. Moving to G+ is exploring a new land for now, and you will not have the reach or influence on G+ until more people adapt. Add content now as you feel compelled, so that IF and WHEN the mass market transitions, you will already be the G+ super star.

In closing:

Your Google+ will not replace Facebook. Google+ will be its own, new community with different behavior and activity. You will probably get there eventually, but there is no need to rush. Play with it, add me right away at MargauxZ@gmail.com, and feel free to add to the FAQ by leaving a comment here, or on my G+ feed. See you there!