WOW! Spent some time over the weekend getting to know Google + and this fascinates me! As I was reviewing it I kept thinking that the folks at Facebook are probably banging their collective heads against the wall saying .. “why didn’t we do this!?” and at the same time, now working 24/7 to catch up with what Google is about to make public to the world.
Here is a brief description what Google+ offers and why you will one day want to seriously consider this outlet:
- Circles: Groups your friends together by topic that YOU choose. i.e. Friends, Family, College Buddies, Business acquaintances etc. From your Circles page, you drag and drop your contacts into each of these groups, which makes it easier to share what you want with them. NO more posts to your entire friends list if you don’t want to. If you only want your family to see something, you can selectively post to them etc.
- Sparks: This is like Google Reader except it brings content to you automatically based on your interests. Each topic you choose (computers, travel, etc) will get its own “Spark” page and provide links to related articles, videos, photos etc.
- Hangouts: These are virtual rooms where you can video chat with people in your circles. THIS IS VERY COOL! For example, if you’re not busy, you can start a talk with all of your family as long as they have a connection. You could honestly meet with your whole family at the same time by video. Awesome conferencing option!
- Huddles: group messaging for people within your Circles. There’s a mobile app available already for Android users that lets you send a message from your phone. Once again, the choice is yours who to send to – a group of people or everyone on your list. And everyone can chat with each other simultaneously.
- Instant upload of photos you take! When you snap a photo on your Android phone, it automatically loads to your Google + site; remains in a mobile photo folder and doesn’t go public until you make it public. GREAT feature!
There is much more to it but those are the highlights. Also, I have read iPhone apps are forthcoming but no ETA as of yet.
Another key piece of Google+ vs. Facebook is the privacy definitions of the two services.
Facebook is renown for changing things when they want – how they want to suit their needs. Those changes have often left users in a lurch on how to handle those changes. Facebook also says … your data is our data and we’ll do with it pretty much as we wish (my opinion of the wording) … Google+ states: we don’t care about your data or information…. you want it deleted, we’ll delete it and we won’t use it while we have it. That has impressed many people thus far in the comparison debate!
Google+ has been invite-only until last week but that was shut down so that the beta group wouldn’t be overly saturated. There is no official ETA on this free service but from all indications, it will arrive to the general population soon.
It’s amazing to watch this technology and have the opportunity to be a part of such development. Google+ will most likely be in your future. Get to know it well. Here is a link with more visual details: http://www.google.com/+/demo/
And by the way, if you are already a part of Google+, let’s join up. Just do a search for Benton White. I’m in there!
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