Google took its biggest leap yet onto Facebook's turf with the networking service Google+ project.
Pros and Cons of Google Plus
The Good
Better Privacy
Google+ uses a diaspora -like way of sharing content with users by utilizing circles which looks to be very appealing to many users who are working to balance their professional and personal life. Google+ makes it much easier to target content to your individual circles. It can be tricky because the proper circles must be added for each message.
Facebook is often critiqued for their dubious privacy changes, and Google seems to be catering to those unhappy users with easy to use privacy options in one location. Deleting an account is straightforward, so is deleting social features. This may appeal to some disgruntled Facebookers, drawing them to use Google+.
Huddles
Google+ Huddle is a non-SMS group chat application for mobile phones. This competes directly with other downloadable apps like Beluga,TextPlus, Kik, and GroupMe. There has not been any run away app in this space, but a Google product like Huddles should help boost it to the forefront.
Hangouts
Having worked remotely (at least part-time) for the past 3 years, a Hangout has a lot of value to me. This allows for a video based group chat, you can invite users, or others see within a circle and join along.
Media
The integration of media on Google+ is very appealing, more so than Facebook. Photos are large and captivating when they come through your stream. Location check-in visuals also add to updates and are not an afterthought.
To enhance an image comments are shown off to the side and the rest of the site is grayed out.
Integration
One of the main features of Google+ is the ability to tie multiple Google products to one location. Google+ ties in seamlessly with Latitude, chat, +1, Chrome, Google Profiles, new Google page designs, Google One Bar, Gmail and Android.
Mobile
The highlights include: the location based options tie directly into Latitude, the photo functionality works seamlessly, and that huddles were great for communication.
The Bad
Complexity
As soon as you log-in, you can tell that some brilliant people created this site. However, in my opinion, the UI is too complicated for the average social user. There are too many options and different features for someone who is trying to simply post up information. This is something that Facebook and Twitter excel at making hard things simple.
To make a post a user must find connections to add to circles, add suggestions and friends to circles, and update content to specific people by choosing circles (which can include your circles, or extended circles).
People & Circles
In Google+ you can assign users to multiple circles. This is a nice feature, but again can be very confusing. Google+ recommends you add users to circles even if they have been assigned a circle. If a user has multiple email addresses, it can get quite confusing. Many times Google+ recommends people already in circles or recommends user follow themselves (again, due to email issues).
Launch
Google is really good at launching algorithm updates, page enhancements and other items that don't require mass adoption. However, Google product launches around items that need adoption are pathetic. From Google Wave to Google Buzz to Google Music, Google does a horrible job of striking while the iron is hot; instead killing the interest and attention of potential users.
Giving users access invite-by-invite to a social platform is not the way to launch a social network. Social networks survive on interactions, and interactions occur from like-minded people and friends collaborating together. Limited invite-by-invite access will not spur this behavior, period.
Sparks
Sparks, the news element of the Google+ service, leaves a lot to be desired in the current state. Instead of some type of news customization, you pick from a channel, or search to make a channel of your own. I expect this to drastically change in the near future to be much more similar to a LinkedIn Today, but there is no benefit to use this today.
The Ugly
The Product Name & Element Names
The naming convention inside the service isn't much better either. Instead of a like, users give a post a +1. The number of +1s is listed with each post in the form of +#. So if seven people liked a post, it would show as +7. But when one person likes a post, it is just confusing:
No other Tie-Ins
One nice feature of services such as LinkedIn is you can tie other accounts, like Twitter, into your profile. Google+ does not offer this yet. If you are going to use Google+, it will be as a standalone platform in its current state. The closest you can get to adding other accounts is by adding links in your Google Profile.
The Verdict
Google+ is a great platform for those looking to break away from their current social networks.
A LinkedIn/Facebook Hybrid For Professionals
An Internal Company Intranet
