July 14, 2011

As if Facebook, Twitter and social coupon buying sites weren’t enough, Google goes ahead and tries to release ANOTHER social networking site! As most tech people on the web know, Google has failed several times trying to release their own social networking site (see Orkut, Wave & Buzz), however this time they may have nailed it. Most of the stories I’ve read on Google’s new social network Google+ (or are we calling it Google Plus), have been positive. Most of the users who were lucky enough to be invited to early trials have also stated mostly positive reviews. About a week ago, I was invited by a friend of mine to try Google Plus for myself and see if I agreed with the early reviews of the new social network.

Now that I’ve had a week or so to use Google+, I figured I could give my early take on the functionality and user interface of the site. Before I go on, I want to mention that the site is still in BETA and most of the functions are very, very raw. I’ve seen a lot of comments on blogs stating the problems with the site already. People seem to forget that it’s barely a month old.

After a week, my first impression is very similar to most other tech blogs around the world – Google seems to have finally gotten it right. If you already have a Google account, your Google Plus account integrates very smoothly with that. You barely even know it’s there. Once you’re on the inside, you start to understand why Google has been tinkering with a different user interface for their search, it fits in perfectly with Google Plus. Profiles and the “stream” or news feed, function very similarly to Facebook. The major difference in usability comes when you add your friends. Google has called this Circles. You can now add different friends to different circles and when you make a post, you can decide which of those circles gets to see it. This is easily the most talked about and interesting function so far. The other new advancement as far as social networking goes is being able to video chat with your friends. While Facebook is just adding this feature now, Google+ already has it. It’s called Hangouts and you have the option of video chatting with more than one person at a time. Some of the other interesting features include; +1, simple photo upload and Sparks, which takes you to news around the world you may be interested in.

There are plenty of other functions and tidbits about Google+ I could talk about, but since the site is still in BETA, I’d rather post another more full review in the coming months. My initial take on Google Plus is a very positive one. It has a lonnnng way to go before we can ever even speak about it overtaking Facebook or Twitter, but it seems the big G is finally on the right track.

*Anyone who may be interested in giving Google Plus a try, please get in touch with me. I have 8 invites that I have no problem sharing with fellow web designers, social marketers!