Google+

[Psyche]

Anyone else in the Google+ beta? Thoughts so far?

[deldalton]

I don't have it yet, unfortunately. But, when I get the opportunity I'll be checking out.

Have you had much of a chance to take a look at it yet?

[TheAppropriator]

I like it since I can separate work stuff from personal stuff a lot more easily than on FB. I'm also a fan of the layout and the lack of stupid **** on it (for now).

PM me with your gmail if you want an invite to Google +, I haz them.

[Ezrem]

Needs a way to filter circles (or individuals) out of the default stream. Other than that, pretty nice so far.

[Psyche]

I work in Web Development so I got an invite pretty early, they have a good bit of work to do still, but it's definitely off to a great start. If you remember facebook in the early days it was pretty terrible. I think G+ will eventually be a good rival/alternative for facebook. I'm just glad to currently be getting away from all the marketing crap on fb (lol since I work for a marketing company).

[Az]

Google creates and abandons things too regularly. No idea if this will be one of those, but it makes me hesitant to invest time nonetheless.

That's probably a stupid comment, given that I have no idea what the future of this project is. However, it's also true. So there.

[Psyche]

I hear what you're saying Az, but Google has a vested interest to enter (and do well) in the social game. They have along been a company that is great at organizing and filtering information, but they never understood the social aspects of how that information is shared and used. Facebook has taken a huge chunk of the internet advertising dollars, because they can target hundreds of millions of people very precisely. Also, facebook seems to understand how and why people share information that they find interesting, which translates to the search business.

Failure on G+ will be a serious blow to Google's expansion and ability to dominate the web advertising world the way it has for the last decade. Google has struggled to find any product or service that can actually make money, and are still relying over 90% on revenue through their ad placement services, which facebook is continuing to cut into. I doubt you have to worry about them abandoning this particular project, unless it completely fails (which early buzz and usage suggests is not likely).

[Az]

I'm sure they'd love to dominate the social space, but what just happened with their attempt to compete with Twitter?

We'll see. I mean, obviously they WANT to take Facebook's business. We'll see if they'll even end up getting a reasonable slice of that pie, because, and I think this is where the danger lies here, it's really all or nothing in the sense that everyone already has a Facebook account. If half of everyone on Facebook tries out G+, that's not a 50/50 split because Facebook still has all of those people whether in spirit or not, and it's very easy to go back if G+ is struggling, not as big, not as good, not as familiar, whatever.

I think it's a pretty big task, even if it's something Google really really wants. Look at the audience. How easily do you think your grandmother is going to move over?

Hell, I'm sure Zuckerberg wants a search engine. In fact, he probably wants a dragon made of stars - and if such a thing existed, I'm sure he could pony up the cash. That still doesn't mean he could take on and defeat Google at their own, well-established, game.

So we'll see.

[Az]

I'm not defending Facebook, either. I'm just saying it'd be hard as **** to kill Facebook.

[Nateh8sYou]

I like it. It's like Twitter in its simplicity with the features of Facebook without all the fluff. Plus it was made from the ground up for mobile, and integrates with all of Google's other services. Anyone with an android phone has the potential to be a G+ user. Having said that, I dont see myself leaving fb unless it really takes off. I'll probably maintain both.

[Nateh8sYou]

People said the same thing about MySpace, and see where it ended up. I'm just saying no social network is incapable of being reduced to irrelevance

[Psyche]

Facebook already is a search engine. People tend to trust word of mouth and friends more than they trust someone trying to sell them something. When someone needs a good or service, a lot of the mare asking for advice and help on facebook. Go on facebook and ask about a new restaurant, I'm sure you'll get some reviews on quality, service, price, etc. It may not fit the standard textbook definition, but for all intents and purposes facebook already is a search engine. With all of the information they've collected about what people "like" and "share" from other websites, it become much easier to suggest new content to them, which translates to advertising dollars.

While I agree with you that G+ has a huge mountain to climb to rival or overtake FB, I think they have a very good start on it with this service. Only time will tell.

I need an IPY circle lol

[Az]

I noticed that Google (obviously?) leveraged their search engine heavily to get this going.

Their stock just went up.

I will make a G+ IPY group when I get a minute.

[Deus]

I remember reading a quote something along the likes of, "A technology is no longer cool when your mom starts using it."
If you think about a mother right now having a child, shes already on facebook, is her kid gonna grow up thinking facebook is cool when his/her entire family has already been on lulling it up on facebook for the past 10 years? There is always that teenage stage of being embarrassed to be seen with your parents, it will be no different online. Facebook's monopolistic reign is going to come to an end within a few years as people start seeking alternatives.

[d0nnybr4sc0]

150 invites to give out pm email for invite