Google+

[NDW]

What do you guys think about Google+? Do you like it better than Facebook? Do you think it will be more popular than Facebook?

I like it better myself.

P.S. If you want an invite for Google+, PM me your e-mail address and I'll invite you to it.

[Ketchup345]

I got in today. The Android app seems like it has a ways to go before being decent, and had some kind of bug I had to fight with to fix.

Only 3 friends on it so far, so can't judge too much yet. The upload photos from phone seems easy and great so far.

[BIG OLAF]

I've seen friends and family raving about it, but still have no earthly idea what it is besides the extremely vague description my friend gave me, which was "Facebook x 1000." Not very helpful.

[NoiseHERO]

A new social networking site? and the ruler of the internet- I mean google created it?

TIME TO RISE TO FAME!

[Palle]

Looking forward to robbing Snark Fuckerberg of precious pennies of advertising revenue.

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

Forget the Like button on every webpage storefront vs whatever Google does- plus button?

Google/++ MAXIMUM ATTACK PSO2 SPONSORSHIP?

[Volcompat321]

I just started using it... got 4 friends so far haha..

Anyone can invite me for a friend- [email protected]

[Nitro Vordex]

I've seen friends and family raving about it, but still have no earthly idea what it is besides the extremely vague description my friend gave me, which was "Facebook x 1000." Not very helpful.
Pretty much this. If there's any reason to actually try it, I'd like to know. Not just OMG ITS SO FUKKEN GOOD.

[CupOfCoffee]

I've been on there for about a week. Seems alright, I guess. Pretty much just a combination of Facebook and Twitter without many users yet.

[Genoa]

I am very much enjoying Google+ :)
And yes <_< everyone is saying it's Facebook + Twitter
Regardless, that still means it's more efficient since it's basically two social networks in the same application :D
Circles is probably my favorite part so far.
Hangout is nifty to (if you have a webcam)

Extremely easy to upload stuff onto Google+

Well, google is pretty good at exercising the K.I.S.S. principle.
E-mail, youtube, and social network all together? :D yeah... pretty boss so far

[Bomber The Cosmonaut]

I am very much enjoying Google+ :)
And yes <_< everyone is saying it's Facebook + Twitter
Regardless, that still means it's more efficient since it's basically two social networks in the same application :D
Circles is probably my favorite part so far.
Hangout is nifty to (if you have a webcam)

Extremely easy to upload stuff onto Google+

Well, google is pretty good at exercising the K.I.S.S. principle.
E-mail, youtube, and social network all together? :D yeah... pretty boss so far

I couldn't get Hangout to work for me, but it seems cool.
Other than that, it's pretty neat. I would like to see it work with other Google programs. (Latitude, Voice, etc)

[Outrider]

Does video hangout work on mobile devices? I have a Droid X, which doesn't have a forward-facing camera, but I can see it becoming a big deal if you can do a group video chat on desktops & mobile phones through Google+.

[Ryno]

deng tried to sign up for the google + but it's just signing me up for a regular profile. how did you guys sign up?

[THLPSC]

deng tried to sign up for the google + but it's just signing me up for a regular profile. how did you guys sign up?

Invite only

[Ketchup345]

deng tried to sign up for the google + but it's just signing me up for a regular profile. how did you guys sign up?Someone has to invite your right now, so just get someone with a Google+ account to send you one, then when there is space (apparently Google has more invites than openings occasionally, at least last I knew) you may make a profile from a link from the email Google sends you.

YTown said he's willing to invite people, just send him a PM clearly asking for an invite.

[Ryno]

ok. i'll send him a PM thank. :)

[Sord]

Since people have brought up "What is google+?" but no one has really responded with more specific details, guess I'll answer that.

Like facebook, you have friends/contacts that you choose to update in much the same way you do facebook (shove your shit in a text bar and hit enter.) The big difference is primarily in the "Circles" feature. What Circles allows you to do is group your contacts into circles and then broadcast your updates to the circles individually, a select few, or all of them.

Quick and dirty example: you have your friends circle and your family circle. Now you can broadcast that raunchy joke/comment you just thought up to all your friends, without worrying about your family seeing it and saying some judging drivel about it. People cannot see your circles or how you have categorized them, just that a person is in some circle of yours (which they have to be, if you're going to broadcast anything to them.) I haven't looked into it as much but I think the "mute" options on people are more customizable to, not positive on this.

+1s are basically the new Like button, except now when you google search crap, you can also +1 search results and the like. So you see some website or whatever you like, +1 it and it'll show up in your list of things you have +1ed. With that said, obviously there is a list of +1s kept on your profile. I imagine over time we might see things like comments/links showing up based on how many contacts in whatever circle have +1 stuff. There's a lot of ways it can go. BTW, if you +1 a link from a google search or whatever, it doesn't post it to your wall or notify anyone. It just goes on your +1 list, you'll still have to personally type your recommendation for people to visit the site if you want it broadcasted.

There's also a feature called Sparks, which I'm not to sure about the details. You can enter in interests of some sort and you'll get webpages/videos/pictures centered around those interests. I don't know what the filters for what content you get are, or how contacts/circles play into it. I'm guessing the +1 feature probably has something to do with it but I honestly couldn't tell you the specifics.

Regardless, the Circles was reason alone for me to at least start a Google+ account in the hope people switch to that and such a feature becomes standard.

Chat features are still around (and probably less buggy than the shit Facebook has.) It uses the same tech video/chat software that gmail uses. There's a feature called "Hangouts," in which you can just kind of sit on webcam, and anyone in your circle can drop in and say hi. Thing is, I really don't think most people are just gonna want to sit on webcam the whole time while they are playing a game or reading an article or something. Depending on your setup it could be hoggin your bandwidth and pc resources after all. There's also just that awkwardness of while you're not looking at the screen, someone could definitely be looking at you.

[BIG OLAF]

Like facebook, you have friends/contacts that you choose to update in much the same way you do facebook (shove your shit in a text bar and hit enter.) The big difference is primarily in the "Circles" feature. What Circles allows you to do is group your contacts into circles and then broadcast your updates to the circles individually, a select few, or all of them.

But, Facebook has that, too. You can add friends to different lists, and then hide statuses from certain "lists" when you write them. But, I think the "Circles" just makes it a bit easier by having it preset to only show the update to that particular group.

I just got my invite to Google+ from a friend a little while ago. I'm sure it's cool, but I really don't know how to use it, and I obviously don't have anyone to add since it's a "private trial run" or whatever. So, it's pretty boring, honestly.

[Sord]

But, Facebook has that, too. You can add friends to different lists, and then hide statuses from certain "lists" when you write them. But, I think the "Circles" just makes it a bit easier by having it preset to only show the update to that particular group.

I just got my invite to Google+ from a friend a little while ago. I'm sure it's cool, but I really don't know how to use it, and I obviously don't have anyone to add since it's a "private trial run" or whatever. So, it's pretty boring, honestly.

On the first one: pretty much. The thing about Google+ is that the feature is front and center. You have to use it. Anytime you add any contact, they have to go into some circle or another (this of course sucks for anyone with a massive contact list that's just moving over.)

As per the later, yeah, you got that right. The fact it's invite only is slowing down how fast people switch, so we don't know if the product will fail simply because we're all waiting for our friends to get on it (and actually start using it,) or if it will take off regardless. Google+ does have its work cut out for it simply because a massive amount of people already use Facebook and have everything set up on there. Back then you were adding a few people at a time. Now we're so integrated into it and have friends list breaking into the hundreads with whatever settings we've already applied, encouraging a massive migration to Google+ is going to be a challenge.

On the flip side, doing a full release could kill it since it's still pretty roughshod and unfinished looking and everyone will just go back to Facebook anyways because at least they are used to it. In addition, if you're gonna be creating a social networking site, it'd be a good idea for the testing process to involve actual socialization.

So I dunno how it's gonna go. Gmail seems to have greatly succeeded and that started out invite only. However, if anyone remembers Google Wave, that was a pretty big social networking flop as far as I know. Everybody wanted the betas and then nobody cared anymore. I believe Google+ has the potential to be better than Facebook, but it's gonna need a lot of users before it can begin to compete.

[Bomber The Cosmonaut]

Does video hangout work on mobile devices? I have a Droid X, which doesn't have a forward-facing camera, but I can see it becoming a big deal if you can do a group video chat on desktops & mobile phones through Google+.

When you download Google+ for your droid, it comes with Huddle. which is like Hangout, minus Youtube sharing and video chat.

[Blitzkommando]

I figure I'll do as I've done since these things have come out and ignore it. It sounds interesting but superfluous like every other social networking site.

[Volcompat321]

So far it's pretty much the main people I see on Facebook, posting on Google+....


The main hate for it as of now, is like someone mentioned, you have to put people in circles before they're your friend..

This sucks when you've added all your FB contacts into Google+, because you have a shit load of people to add into circles, and you CANNOT do it in bulk.
You have to do it all individually....

So for now, I let people know I have it, and they can find me, I'm not going to add or invite all those people... Seems like a waste of time until it becomes more open, and viral.


EDIT: Actually, I guess you can kinda do it in bulk... maybe it's new, cause I've tried what I just tried before, and it didn't work.... this time it did..

I hit select all, and then dragged them all into my "Friends" circle, and I guess it'll invite all those people...

[BIG OLAF]

superfluous like every other social networking site.

People keep saying that, and I don't know why. Well, no, I do know. They all say "go outside and have a real conversation!"

Have you met people? They're quite stupid most of the time, and not interesting to talk to at all. I find it's easier just to type a quick little thing somewhere on the internet, and say you've "communicated." Also, I only use Facebook (and Google+, now) to rant about things that piss me off, or to post up the latest gaming news for friends that may not know it yet. Not everyone gets on social networking sites just to "chit-chat." Some people use it for stress relief, or for information.

Well, all that plus I have "problems" with social interaction, so the internet is a good way to be able to talk to people without having a panic attack.

Whew. Anyway, I should probably send Google+ invites to all my close friends on Facebook, so it won't be so boring when I use it.

[Sord]

So far it's pretty much the main people I see on Facebook, posting on Google+....


The main hate for it as of now, is like someone mentioned, you have to put people in circles before they're your friend..

This sucks when you've added all your FB contacts into Google+, because you have a shit load of people to add into circles, and you CANNOT do it in bulk.
You have to do it all individually....

So for now, I let people know I have it, and they can find me, I'm not going to add or invite all those people... Seems like a waste of time until it becomes more open, and viral.


EDIT: Actually, I guess you can kinda do it in bulk... maybe it's new, cause I've tried what I just tried before, and it didn't work.... this time it did..

I hit select all, and then dragged them all into my "Friends" circle, and I guess it'll invite all those people...

I know when I did circles for the first time, I just started clicking all the ones I wanted to drag and they stayed highlighted. Then when I dragged one it dragged the whole group. Made things a lot faster. Though that doesn't change the fact only around 20 something people are ever displayed at a time.

[Blitzkommando]

People keep saying that, and I don't know why. Well, no, I do know. They all say "go outside and have a real conversation!"
Good to see you know what my reasoning was without me stating it. No, social networking sites are superfluous because I have other methods to contact, whether it be forums, email, phone, or instant messaging. Or, yes, in person. Hence why they are superfluous, as in, excessively redundant. None of them do something I can't do through some other form.

[Sord]

Good to see you know what my reasoning was without me stating it. No, social networking sites are superfluous because I have other methods to contact, whether it be forums, email, phone, or instant messaging. Or, yes, in person. Hence why they are superfluous, as in, excessively redundant. None of them do something I can't do through some other form.

This may not be true for you, but my phone is pretty shitty for organizing mass events, which is the primary use my friend group gets out of facebook most of the time. There's usually at least one a month.

[Volcompat321]

I know when I did circles for the first time, I just started clicking all the ones I wanted to drag and they stayed highlighted. Then when I dragged one it dragged the whole group. Made things a lot faster. Though that doesn't change the fact only around 20 something people are ever displayed at a time.

Well, at first it wouldn't do a mass drag and drop of people from my FB, (used Yahoo, to get FB contacts, then Yahoo->GMail contacts-> G+...)
So when I tried again, and it worked, I was surprised.

[Genoa]

Okay, I'm loving this more and more.
The phone application is very cool
I use the hell out of Huddle and Hangout
Circles was just a retardedly smart idea, as mentioned earlier:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/184577/saturday-night-live-moms-on-facebook