From its name, Google + might seem like an advanced search service. However, Google has probably come up with this name of it's new Social Networking service based on the fact of ADDing (+ing) contacts on a social media website. The way they thought is cool, not sure of the catchiness of the name though.
First lets discuss the greatest, though not very unique features of Google + (cough.. Facebook.. cough).
Profile: This is very similar to any other profile on the internet. Google + profile has the potential of being both an informal and a professional profile.
Stream: Stream is the news feed we see on Facebook. It is the aggregator of all the posts on your network.
Circles: Now, this is Google's take on groups. Circles is a cool way of organizing your contacts into groups or circles as they call it. It has certain dissimilarities from the conventional groups on Facebook. For example, when you update your status or post a link, you can choose to which circles or groups you want it to be visible to. The UI for adding contacts into circles is elegant. You have to drag your contacts into one of the circle shaped groups.
Hangout: This is one of the coolest features of +. A hangout is a service that let's you literally ( yet only virtually) hang out with your friends. Yes, you heard me. You can see and talk to them. This is achieved with voice and video conference Google services. It is brilliantly integrated into +.
Photos: Picasa web albums is integrated right into your Google + account. Unlike Facebook, I am not sure if Google + users get unlimited storage for their photos. But Picasa integration is definitely useful. Also, you can choose which albums to be public, private and available to specific circles.
Huddle: This is a group testing service available to only the Android app users, which does not seem to work on my Atrix as I type this. Sounds cool, will update this paragraph when it works. ;) On the other hand, the app is pretty slick and intuitive. The notifications are quick.
Sparks: Various interests categories can be pinned under sparks for quick access. It is like a mini-news feed in that specific category.
Sparks: Various interests categories can be pinned under sparks for quick access. It is like a mini-news feed in that specific category.
+1: This is a very interesting concept. People might compare it with Facebook's 'Like' , but it is different and stupid in it's own ways. Google has integrated +1 into it's search service too. Once you perform a search on Google, there is a +1 button beside every search result if you are logged in. You can like (or +1 as Google wants to put it) any search result. This way the whole web can be categorized based on people's interests. Now that's what Google has always been striving for. The only issue I had with this is that how can a search result be +1'd before actually viewing the page?. Also, all the links you +1'd on the web will appear on the +1s on your Google + page. And like FB, any post or comment can be +1'd. (Man! It's so difficult to type +1'd! I am actually copy-pasting it throughout this post. Like is at least better that way :P)
Google + is the first non-beta Google product. It does seem like a complete and polished product release, has a few bugs though. To name a few, the suggestions seem to re-appear even after inviting or adding them to one of your circles. Also, I have received feedback from my friends complaining about the privacy settings. User info seems to be available by default. Google does need to work a lot on privacy issues for +. The pioneer, Facebook itself keeps struggling in this domain.
+1 on Google + : +1 is very neatly integrated into the Google + service, however there is a little confusion. Say for example, I put up a status message saying The Jets teams Rocks!!. Say 100 people +1'd this status message. Now I change the status message to The Jets teams Sucks!! ( No offense intended, I actually have no clue of American Football). The 100 people would have still +1'd it! The work around to this can be notifying the people who +1'd any status message or comment if it is altered. Let's see how Google addresses this.
Google did a very good job with + so far. Can be better though as social media has tremendous scope. They can very well integrate their Ad services too. It did flick some features from Facebook including the UI ( sorry for my rudeness, I meant adapted from Facebook), but does have a lot of potential to compete with the monopoly.
To sum it up, this is a great attempt at social media by Google and so far the integration of + into all it's services has been brilliant. Let's hope that Google get's it right this time.
P.S. Please +1 this post. :P
