Google+

Let the Social Network Battle begin…..Google+ is still in “TEST” mode but has got a lot of news and high demand for invites that even prompted a few to sell invites on eBay.  I finally got in a few days ago and haven’t played as much with it as I’d like to, life gets in the way.  But from what I see I like it, and more so because I use a lot of the Google products such as Gmail, Picasa, YouTube, blogger, etc. 

G+ has the wall were you can post, your own profile, friends and the +1 along with (if you Picasa) your photo albums available to share with your circles.  Circles are your friends list, and a way you can make your life a little more private on a social network where as you might not be able to on facebook, or don’t care to since it’s a little more work.  Google has made it a little easier.  Right now I’ve found it easy to create and edit my circles.  What I really like is I can view my profile as a group or someone I circled.   Nice feature.

Why I think G+ will work.

Google has had previous attempts to jump in the social network pool with Wave (didn’t know of this one till a while ago) and Buzz(I did use Buzz) but they seem to have learned and are putting every effort in to making this work. 

They already have done something that prompted a facebook/Zuckerburg response.  The Hangout/webcam chat.  This week Zuckerburg said that FB will join with Skype to provide that service on FB, but from what I’ve read so far Google’s is less clunky.  So Google at least has the Zuck’s attention.

It takes a page from Twitter.  Twitter right now is the big thing out there, IMO, bigger than facebook.  You follow someone, even famous people, and you see what they say/do.  You don’t need to wait for that person to accept requests.  The stream is almost facebook like but also twitter like.  You can have that interaction like that in more than 140 characters.

It’s Google.  When you look something up on the web, what do you do?  Yahoo it?  Bing it?  No you Google it.  In the search engine world Google is the king.  You search something you are allowed to +1 it and that goes to your feed.  Also there you probably use a bunch of Google products that you’re not even aware of.  YouTube, blogger, Google Maps (hello check in’s) and Picasa above.  Google owns a lot of brands that are there at its finger tips to tap into and use and integrate into the social network.  I can see it working well for news and weather and sports using YouTube instead of processing a twit vid or twit pic. 

Why it won’t take down Facebook.

It’s Google.  Now this may be brilliant or something untapped yet that I’m not sure of.  But needing a Google Acct to sign in.  This is brilliant to get more people to use your product (and take back to share holders) and expand your brand…but could this also scare people away?   People already have an MSN or Yahoo address, who wants to resign up for a new one?

Go back to the sing up for a new email…do people want to sign up for another site?  People at once had both Facebook and MySpace…and a lot have Twitter and Facebook now…will they want another?

Anonymity.  What’s the great thing about the internet social sites and message boards?  Hiding behind a screen name.  Google+ right now is your name.  How it shows up in an email.  Now unless on your email your sending them out as “suckitAuburn” or “TempeDude” then you hold that.  I for one do have handles on twitter and not my name, mostly because its shorter!

Those obvious are just a few and I’m sure like most sites on the web, it will go through updates and process changes.  It will add companies later this year too.  I really hope we don’t see APPs  like games show up on there.  Keep it clean of that manusha.

That being said, I think Google+ will work, will compete with Facebook and make both sites better.  Will I delete Facebook, prob not right now….will it ever go away…most likely no, but there’s another guy in the room that’s ready to stand up to the leader in the clubhouse.  I think when it goes live and as I add tweeps and facebookers to it I will probably use it more than facebook as I like to simplify my life and have my services all in one place (IE why I only do fantasy on ESPN), and I’m excited to see where it goes.

Is Twitter the end of message boards?

In the ever expanding tools available to us on the internet, something has become clear to me….twitter is going to kill the message board.  Message boards like Hawkeye Nation and Report and everything was where fans went to get all the breaking news on your favorite teams that a fan not connected would get.  Others had info on movies and movie stars….now it’s all available in only 140 characters depending on who you choose to follow.  Easily anything breaking you will get the information from about 20 others you follow. 

And in my experience of message boards, there were people on there who I never cared for their response, or what they had to say.  With twitter you cannot follow them or just block them.  Convenience.  If you have blog or website, you can still promote all your products there easily.  In a matter of retweets too you have your blog or business splattered all the twitterverse.  You can have your same conversations with the same people on twitter.  Hash tag it for a thread. 

I look at it as the .com era back in the early 2000s.  There was a big push and then the balloon burst.  I think the time is coming soon for the end of message boards too.  Those of you who have a stake in them, I think you’re on the downward spiral of this phenomenon.  Twitter I don’t think will ever replace facebook, they are 2 totally different things.  I enjoy them both and think they are both great tools…just don’t let them overtake you.