Is Google+ a hit? Well, I basically haven’t checked Facebook in a week so you tell me!
One thing that really helped keep me on G+ was that a Redditor came up with a way for their members to add themselves to a spreadsheet using Google Docs, let anyone import that into Gmail and then make all of those contacts into a pre-made G+ circle. So that’s given me an instantaneous list of hundreds of very engaged, plugged-in techie types and a ready-made G+ stream that I might not have otherwise. (Although one advantage of G+ is that, like Twitter, you can follow anyone without them having to friend/follow you back so you can quickly build a list by following the many Tech Gurus who are there or well-known librarians or others in your areas of interest.)
In addition to spending a lot of time with the site, I continue to do lots of reading about it. Here are some of my latest finds…
- Tips for newer G+ users
- In my previous post, I mentioned that Google was censoring all nudity. Apparently they’re doing the same thing for certain “bad” words.
- Google’s Executive Chairman on G+’s early success and how it is different than Facebook
- A different G+ cheat sheet, this one more focused on what different page elements are for.
- All the top Google execs have hidden their follower counts and the person who noticed it is asking why. Is it something as benign as them not wanting G+ to turn into a “who has more followers?” ego-fest like Facebook and Twitter or are there other reasons?
- A great graphic illustrating how G+ changes everything by blending the best of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
- Another presentation theorizing what G+ is *really* about, how social is the least of it and how Microsoft & Apple should be the most worried, not Facebook & Twitter.
- Finally, everyone should watch this amazing Powerpoint presentation by a Google engineer explaining some of the differences between our real life social networks and our online ones and without talking directly about it, what makes Google+ unique in terms of the social space compared to competitors like Facebook. (You may have to zoom out to see the speaking notes.)
