It all started when Google announced buzz which we thought was a massive fail. Then it proceeded, with the +1 Button announced in the early 2010 which was all thought was a joke. Well, guess what? Google is smarter than all of us as usual and had that all planned. Bam !! There goes Google+ ... Google's Proper approach towards the world of Social Media.
So, I was one of the few lucky people who got early invites to the Google+ Project. Judging by my first glance, I can say that it a Facebook killer indeed. It is "The" Google approach towards social Networking. It is simply buzz, Google Profiles, Picassa, twitter, facebook, Wave and GTalk all in one place ! (Who knows what's coming next? Maybe other Google products will be dropped in the tastey cocktail too such as youtube, GCalender, GDocs, .. etc)
So, I was one of the few lucky people who got early invites to the Google+ Project. Judging by my first glance, I can say that it a Facebook killer indeed. It is "The" Google approach towards social Networking. It is simply buzz, Google Profiles, Picassa, twitter, facebook, Wave and GTalk all in one place ! (Who knows what's coming next? Maybe other Google products will be dropped in the tastey cocktail too such as youtube, GCalender, GDocs, .. etc)
Another Great thing about Google+ is how awesome the integration between different services and features is. Google -needless to say- is very famous with the unique and perfect integration between it's services and products. For instance, When I first joined all my profile data were 90% Complete and I did not need to fill anything. This, is because google utilizes all Personal data collected about you from different services and automagically fills your profile and uses this data to provide you with a greater social experience.
Also, needless to say how Google tracks all of us (whether we like it or not). If not via all the services, through search web history, Google public DNS, Web crawling, Google Analytics (Which is embedded in almost 90% of the websites you visit) and more ! ... Google services/products are vital and endless and we use them without even thinking anymore as if they came with the internet lol !
Moreover, with the Android Marketshare world wide increasing to almost 50%. All the android data (Which is in the Google cloud) stands in favor of Google towards it's Social Networking Approach, The Google+ Project. Google has not forgotten to design a mobile app for Google+ as well and it's amazing !
Furthermore If you were previously a Google fan user, You can indeed move your previous data seamlessly and share them on Google+. You can instantly share all your picasa/Blogger web albums as well as Video Content. In addition, you can also share your Buzz activity (Which can be linked to other social websites). The new interface makes you feel more comfy like a baby in the arms of Google when you upload videos, images and other content. You will no longer feel disoriented between the products captured by Google (Namely: picasa) but will instead feel that you are doing everything inside the Google+ fancy world.
Also, needless to say how Google tracks all of us (whether we like it or not). If not via all the services, through search web history, Google public DNS, Web crawling, Google Analytics (Which is embedded in almost 90% of the websites you visit) and more ! ... Google services/products are vital and endless and we use them without even thinking anymore as if they came with the internet lol !
Moreover, with the Android Marketshare world wide increasing to almost 50%. All the android data (Which is in the Google cloud) stands in favor of Google towards it's Social Networking Approach, The Google+ Project. Google has not forgotten to design a mobile app for Google+ as well and it's amazing !
Furthermore If you were previously a Google fan user, You can indeed move your previous data seamlessly and share them on Google+. You can instantly share all your picasa/Blogger web albums as well as Video Content. In addition, you can also share your Buzz activity (Which can be linked to other social websites). The new interface makes you feel more comfy like a baby in the arms of Google when you upload videos, images and other content. You will no longer feel disoriented between the products captured by Google (Namely: picasa) but will instead feel that you are doing everything inside the Google+ fancy world.
A Quick Overview.
For a quick overview, you can Try a quick demo yourself !! and you can watch the Video below. But, I recommend you proceed with the blog post for more blazing features =)
Privacy.
Important things first. The primary and most important main concern regarding any social network is the security and privacy settings that it is capable of providing. Google+ has got you covered and has set a world class standard on how to ensure social media privacy. As a matter of fact, you can tweak every little detail: Starting from the profile visibility within the Google+ Network and Searches then, to every piece of info you write in your profile all the way down to Every single thing you share each time. This, without bugging you with confirmation messages and complicated links to keep you right in the Good mood for social productivity ;)
The main idea behind the privacy system is that friends or followers are organised into circles or groups. Where you have the full control and ability to control what to share with each circle. You can even restrict specific people and set them their own privacy level. You are 110% in control of: Who sees what on your profile, who can discover your profile, who can see specific media or links you share, ... etc). You can also view your profile as somebody else to confirm that you did your privacy settings the way you wanted. Just like facebook. Besides of course, you can manage other accounts linked to your google profile anytime.
Oh and in case you wanna leave. You totally have the option to wipe out ur data plain and clean. You can also, download all your profile data (Photos, Buzz, Contacts and more). Take a look below !
The main idea behind the privacy system is that friends or followers are organised into circles or groups. Where you have the full control and ability to control what to share with each circle. You can even restrict specific people and set them their own privacy level. You are 110% in control of: Who sees what on your profile, who can discover your profile, who can see specific media or links you share, ... etc). You can also view your profile as somebody else to confirm that you did your privacy settings the way you wanted. Just like facebook. Besides of course, you can manage other accounts linked to your google profile anytime.
Oh and in case you wanna leave. You totally have the option to wipe out ur data plain and clean. You can also, download all your profile data (Photos, Buzz, Contacts and more). Take a look below !
Usability.
Google+ Design and user interface is breath-taking! Total beauty and ease to a whole new addicting level. With HTML5 Design and Real time response on almost every click. Instant autocomplete and auto assist on everything.. Sharing is as simple as Dragging and dropping a content from your computer or pasting a link. Setting privacy levels can be set on the fly at posting time. Adding a new friend to a circle is exactly. One mouse hover followed by a click. Also, you can mention people in comments or updates any where twitter style using the "+" sign.. (That's right, + is the new @). You can edit you comments and posts any time you want to or even disable/delete comments on them. You can further restrict specific posts from being shared by others.
Inviting others or sharing via Email is auto suggested from your Gmail Contacts, GTalk buddies as well as other external accounts you link to your profile. You can view updates from specific circles just like twitter's lists but on Super steroids. Managing you friends circles is easy as drag and drop. Literally! Not to mention, the awesome notification system... Which reminds me with TweetDeck, It's even more awesome than that. You can view notifications, respond to them from the notifications panel without even bothering to go back to your stream or go to the exact post the notification is related to.
Watching your stream updates in real time just like Google Wave is very addicting and shocking at the same time. I can't believe I'm viewing my whole stream without a single click. Not even the twitter ugly "More". The links are also super fast to the extent that you can't resist clicking on stuff.
Inviting others or sharing via Email is auto suggested from your Gmail Contacts, GTalk buddies as well as other external accounts you link to your profile. You can view updates from specific circles just like twitter's lists but on Super steroids. Managing you friends circles is easy as drag and drop. Literally! Not to mention, the awesome notification system... Which reminds me with TweetDeck, It's even more awesome than that. You can view notifications, respond to them from the notifications panel without even bothering to go back to your stream or go to the exact post the notification is related to.
Watching your stream updates in real time just like Google Wave is very addicting and shocking at the same time. I can't believe I'm viewing my whole stream without a single click. Not even the twitter ugly "More". The links are also super fast to the extent that you can't resist clicking on stuff.
Social+
Google has not only taken the traditional Social Networking approaches and made them better, they have taken it steps further towards the future of social networking. Seems like integrating the best of twitter, facebook, Google Wave and Buzz was not enough. As stated before, Google automagically fills in your profile details and provides you with friends suggestions based on your Gmail Contacts and GTalk pals. You can also, use GTalk right inside Google+ to talk to your friends. Forgot to mention the +1 button, now you can share all the links you visit with Google+ by just ONE click.
Google+ is basically Social Networking on coke. With the ability to share your buzz into account, you can further share your tweets, Google reader links, youtube activity and more! Add and manage friend circles. Filter updates from your friends according to their circles just like twitter lists and much more!
The most interesting two features are: Google Sparks and Google Hangouts. Sparks is basically: Google groups, Facebook Groups, Facebook Fan Pages, Google Wave and twitter hashtags evolved towards social ease, linkage and constructiveness. You can simply discover Google sparks, follow your interests in order to discover a lot more stuff related to what you like, discover people with mutual interests to yours and discuss or promote topics in the Google+ World. Google Sparks has not yet been fully exposed, But those were my early insights. Google groups + Facebook Groups + Facebook Fan Pages + Google Wave + Twitter hashtags = ? (That's exactly what I thought)
Another interesting feature, is face detection and auto tagging in shared photos. When you add a tag, Suggested boxes approximated to the faces in that photo are suggested and you get asked to identify the faces of the people you know in the photo.
Last, the Great Google hangouts where you can video chat with multiple friends at the same time. Make online parties as well as make side talks via Google chat. The mind blowing feature about it is that it automagically detects the person currently talking and switches the main Video interface to his view such that everybody can see the person currently talking. Needless to say, It super fast !!
Of course, you can link different social media accounts to your profile and start sharing between all your social networks as well. More yet to come, Google still yet has a lot to offer. This is not the "Boom" .. The "Boom" is coming soon in the near future when it gets publicly open ;)
Google+ is basically Social Networking on coke. With the ability to share your buzz into account, you can further share your tweets, Google reader links, youtube activity and more! Add and manage friend circles. Filter updates from your friends according to their circles just like twitter lists and much more!
The most interesting two features are: Google Sparks and Google Hangouts. Sparks is basically: Google groups, Facebook Groups, Facebook Fan Pages, Google Wave and twitter hashtags evolved towards social ease, linkage and constructiveness. You can simply discover Google sparks, follow your interests in order to discover a lot more stuff related to what you like, discover people with mutual interests to yours and discuss or promote topics in the Google+ World. Google Sparks has not yet been fully exposed, But those were my early insights. Google groups + Facebook Groups + Facebook Fan Pages + Google Wave + Twitter hashtags = ? (That's exactly what I thought)
Another interesting feature, is face detection and auto tagging in shared photos. When you add a tag, Suggested boxes approximated to the faces in that photo are suggested and you get asked to identify the faces of the people you know in the photo.
Last, the Great Google hangouts where you can video chat with multiple friends at the same time. Make online parties as well as make side talks via Google chat. The mind blowing feature about it is that it automagically detects the person currently talking and switches the main Video interface to his view such that everybody can see the person currently talking. Needless to say, It super fast !!
Of course, you can link different social media accounts to your profile and start sharing between all your social networks as well. More yet to come, Google still yet has a lot to offer. This is not the "Boom" .. The "Boom" is coming soon in the near future when it gets publicly open ;)
Bottom line is, Facebook is going to die. Not that soon, but eventually will lose the battle against Google. For many reasons. Tell ya about these in the upcomming posts ;)
Oh hey? Have you added a Google+ twibbon to your twitcon in order to show your support to google+?
Oh hey? Have you added a Google+ twibbon to your twitcon in order to show your support to google+?
