Google Plus (G+) is a social networking project, operated by Google Inc. The service was first launched on June 28, 2011, with an invitation-only. Existing users were allowed to invite friends who were over 18 years of age to the service to create their own accounts. However, it was suspended the next day due to an “insane demand” for accounts. Then on September, 2011, G+ was opened to everyone 18 years of age or older without the need for an invitation. The age limit had previously been 18, but on January 26, 2012, Google opened Google+ to teenagers.
Features in Google+:
Circles: enable users to organize people into groups for sharing. You share different things with different people; to put it in another way, you share right stuffs with right people. For example, you can organize people into groups of Friends, Acquaintances, and Family. The organization is done through a drag-and-drop interface. Also, you can share certain posts with users in a specific Circle.
Stream: is a place that users see updates from those in their Circles. There is an input box which allows users to enter a post. There are fields to put text, to upload and share photos and videos. The Stream can be filtered to show only posts from specific Circles.
Hangouts: are places used to facilitate group video chat with maximum of 10 people. You can hang out with your friends anywhere at any time without being in same space. Actually, President Obama had done virtual interview in the past through aired live on the official White House Google+ page.
Sparks: are topics that you want to discuss with others. It allows you to post your likes and dislikes and enables users to identify topics they might be interested in sharing with others. Sparks helps to keep users informed of the latest updates on the topics of their interest.
Games: There are about 38 games. Unlike Facebook games, Google+ games are located under a games tab, which gives games less visibility, and have notifications that are separate from the rest of a user's notifications.
+1 button: allows people to recommend sites and parts of sites, similar in use to Facebook's Like button.
Search: allows users to search for content within Google+. You type what you're looking for into the Google+ search box, and Google will show relevant people and posts, as well as popular content from around the web.Google+ for Business:
Google Plus is a great tool to use in business which helps to get closer to your customers. You can share breaking news, updates, promotions, links, photos, etc. You can even talk to customers in face-to-face via video chat. By putting the +1 button, you can recommend your business, products, or services to friends and others. By clicking Google+ badge icon, people will be taken to your Google+ page where they can follow your page and see your posts from then on. Google’s measurement tools allow you to know what people are saying about your business, how many +1’s your business receives, and how these affect your traffic. You can find out more about Google+ through Amir Efrati’s article titled, “Google Wants Search to Be More Social.” Also, Olivia’s post called, “Difference Between Google Plus+ and Facebook” shows different Google+ features compared from Facebook.
Which one would you prefer between Google+ and Facebook?
What else can you think of the effects that Google+ can bring into your life and your business?
Google+ is a social networking site that I have never had interest in joining, and honestly I do not think I ever will. Before reading this, I really never new anything about Google+ besides that you needed an invite first and I heard the terminology "circles," and that's about it. Although now, that I have read about it I still do not see the need for it. I still just see it as another site to interact with people. Honestly, I think Google thought that this product would be more popular than Facebook, but I do not think that happened. No one I know has Google+ and still just use Facebook as their main social networking site. I can see the upside to Google+ is organization and professionalism. You can organize people into different "circles," which I guess is more realistic because you do put your peers, friends, colleagues and family into different so called "circles." But, other than this, I do not see any reason to have Google+. Businesses can still use Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Blogs to interact with customers, so what is one more site going to do that the others cannot? I read the article and I do not see any clear distinctions of differences between the two or what makes Google+ better than Facebook. So, for now, I am still sticking with Facebook!
ReplyDeleteIt is true that facebook is beloved and is getting more public platform among people and companies. However, I personally don't like Facebook because it feels like there is no privacy. I found out a report that interviewed some users who quitted Facebook and what they claimed is that social circle in Facebook is undesirably large and they have to accept requests from friends who they do not actually want to befriend. But Google plus has more private and easier way of sharing things (Circles, drag-n-drop format). I think it really depends on people's preferences. Those who want to be opened and share with a lot of people, they will love Facebook, and those who consider privacy as very important, Google+ is better for them. I agree with you in some way that Google+ does not have enough merits yet, to change people's favorance from Facebook to G+.
DeleteI never felt there were any real benefits to Google plus that the other social media do not have. I personally have never used Google plus. I use mostly social media to get new information quickly, something that Google plus does not do. If I wanted to share information with multiple people I would post it on my Twitter page or my Facebook page. Most of the things Google plus are things that other places have but nothing has been able to draw me over and keep me there that others have done such as Facebook and Twitter have done.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post with insightful information. I agree with Adam and Nicole in many ways. My question is: if there are not that many individual users using Google+, why some companies, if not all, want to get on Google+. I would like to hear your thoughts tomorrow in class.
ReplyDeleteMy answer for your question is that some companies want to get on Google+ because there are better features in Google+ which Facebook doesn’t have. Google+ Business Photo stream allows fixed photos at the top of their page, whereas Facebook update the stream with recent photo uploads so companies need to delete those photos one by one which you don’t want in the stream. And Circles would be another reason because companies can separate their customers depending on which city or state they live in. Google+ seems like they more focus on communicate with their customers. As I mentioned before, Drag and Drop format will be another reason that some companies prefer Google plus, which makes uploading huge number of photos faster and easier.
DeleteFrom the time I first time I hard of Google+ I wanted to join to see what all the hype was about but since it was an invite only social networking site, I lost all interest in joining. I think that its arrival had a greater expectation than the actual finished product. It seems to have become a fail and people no longer find interest in joining. I certainly prefer Facebook over Google+ simply because I have been using it for years and Google+ seems very repetitive and similar to Facebook. Facebook has a larger following of over 500 million people and I think that it will take Google+ years to even build up a following that would be no where close to that of Facebook.
ReplyDeleteBusinesses might find Google+ sharing features as positive for building a presence for their company but it has not been successful thus far and might have downfalls. The stream feature and circles might be the most interesting parts of Google+ that I would like to use but yet again Facebook is updating its features and incorporating a lot of what Google+ is bringing to the social world.
When Google+ first came out, i immidiately heard about it and was a little confused as to what it offered and what its primary purpose was. Although, after some time had passed and i heard more about its features and its extent of a social media platform, i was hooked. Google+ offers many advantages that other social media platforms do not, and with that it has the ability to attract more people within its target market. Howeever, despite my likings towards the new fad, my heart and loyalty will always be with facebook. I think i feel this way because i am so used to facebook and how to use it, that trying out a whole new platform is not worth it. I enjoy using facebook everyday, especially because all of my friends and even most of my family is using it.
ReplyDeleteI share many of the thoughts and comments already posted concerning the apparent duplication of Google Plus with Facebook, despite its unique features, and the subsequent time zapper.
ReplyDeleteAn additional issue lies in the realm of privacy. Last week's headlines raised concerns people have with the linking of all Google access points to create an e-version of "A E-Day in the Life" of users. Many prefer a more private use of social media, and not a sharing of what articles they have read, what sites they have searched, where their GPS has roamed or the latest update to their status. Could this be a case of "back-to-the-future" where users push back on the ultimate linking of all networks to a more simplified satisfied contentment with what I already enjoy and what works for me? Or will users eventually consider this prehistoric, or should I say ‘presocialmedia-stoic’. Susan T
Thank you Ji Min for an informative post and an interesting discussion. Susan T
ReplyDeleteGoogle+ is a social media website that is currently in its early stages of development. Before todays class, I didn't really have a good idea of what google+ was all about. I remember when switch from myspace to Facebook was considered a huge deal. Do you think that google+ will be the new trend, and that everyone will feel that they need to make the switch? While looking through the website, I found the layout to be a lot more appealing than Facebook. Google+ seems to be a lot more organized that any other social media website. As time goes on I do believe that google is beginning to take over. The search engine that I use is google, the search engine that I use is google translate, I use gmail. I find it to be the most effective and easiest to learn how to use. Ever since I was little i was brought up with the use of google. Each day it seems to impress me more and more. It will continue to be used and each day will grow into something that eventually the entire world will recognize.
ReplyDeleteAlthough i know G+ has many interesting features, i am not motivated to use it. Primary because I am satisfied with the current meda I am using like Facebook, Twitter, Skype..etc. If G+ can't prove that it is better than others, no one will put time and energy into it.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I am concern about is Google's intention to track user's behavior. They know what sites you visit and what keywords you type. Although the purpose is to offer the best search result and interest, it still holds me back from using G+
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