The future of social media is here. It’s called Google+.
The technology giant’s latest attempt of dominating the social media world combines the best aspects of Facebook and Twitter. Millions of people around the world are already members of the Google community. Now these users have a simple and intuitive platform to join.
Among its many pluses (pun intended), a few stand out:
The circles feature, which your humble Tech Talk editor was at first very skeptical of, is a game-changer.
The feature gives you the opportunity to easily group information around a specific topic or group of individuals. It’s also much cleaner, like what Facebook was when it debuted more than a half-decade ago and has since cluttered. There are no applications or other annoyances to distract the user — yet.
Users are likely to find this platform to be refreshing in that they can still connect with whoever they’d like, but don’t have to be bombarded with every detail a given connection posts. Users may choose to select specific groups of individuals to populate their news feeds at any given moment. Sure, Facebook and Twitter have these options, but Google does it better. It’s easier, more prominently placed and more intuitive.
The integration with other services (like GMail, Calendar, Reader, etc…) people are already using will attract more people to Google+.
The platform is also fast and seemingly dependable.
Google+ also allows users to share content and updates with individuals not using the platform by still allowing you to add them to a circle. Your updates then get emailed to them.
While it remains to be seen if Facebook will continue its dominance in ways MySpace and other services could not, this editor is confident Google+ will be a major player. Facebook is not going to die anytime soon, but folks now have another viable option to connect with others.
Prediction: Within a year, Google+ will be more popular than Twitter and give Facebook a real run for its money.
I agree that Google+ is pretty cool. And I love the Circles feature. It’s definitely the way any social media is going to be headed. Just like mass communication is being replaced by more relevant, personal communication, social media is changing so people can connect with different social circles in the way they want.
I recently created a video blog on http://www.1to1media.com about how businesses might be impacted by new social circles and social media advancement toward one-to-one relationships online. Check it out:
http://www.1to1media.com/video/watch.aspx?v=RIBJTyN2zbI&playlist=New-Videos