By now we’re sure you’ve heard about Google +. It’s Google’s latest foray into doing something that isn’t just search results. And we got in on the beta testing (as far as you know, we’re pretty important), so we’ve had a chance to check it out a little bit.
And we dig it.
Sure, we haven’t had a chance to really full-on live with it yet, but we love some of the features. People think it’s going after Facebook, but we disagree. Facebook is a giant when it comes to social media (obviously). They do what they do and they do it very well. But Google and everyone else has had a chance to watch them do their thing and see what works and what doesn’t. But, rest assured, whatever cool stuff Google + adds to social media, Facebook will copy it. It will be like Windows vs. Mac OS: they both steal the cool stuff from each other and add it to their next offering.
One of the coolest things about Google + is the circles. With Facebook, when you post something, everyone in your network (or depending on your privacy settings, just some of them) can see what you wrote. That’s one group that sees everything. Google + has circles where you can clump your friends together into different groups. So, pictures of you completely smasho would only get circulated to your old college buddies. Other things would just go to mom and grandmom. Your work colleagues would only see the stuff you write that sounds like, “boy, tough day at work today, but I got a lot done!,” even though it’s a total lie.
You can also arrange for small group texts that has a private conversation between you and a small group of people. Let’s say you are trying to find out when everyone is going over to Mike’s house. Individual texts to six or seven people is tedious and slow (especially when you get texts like: “Hey, can you text Sheila and ask her….” Text her yourself! Why do I have to do it?).
But yeah, if you get a chance, see if you can become a beta tester for Google +. This should end up going over much better than Google Wave, which I don’t think ever made it out of any kind of beta mode. If it did, no one noticed.
