Watch out, Facebook: There’s a new time-consuming,
productivity-inhibiting social media site in town. Whether you’re on the site
or refusing to join, you’ve at least heard of Google+. There’s been a lot of debate
over whether Google+ will last, even within my own department. After taking an
informal poll, I realized there’s a wide range of opinions about the future of
Google’s new social media network. I’ve heard everything from “I’m boycotting” and
“Google needs to stick to what it’s good at: Being Google” to a few people
saying they’d switch to Google+ and dump Facebook if enough of their friends
moved over.
While I’m no Google+ pro, there are some definite selling
points to a new social media platform, especially one affiliated with a
behemoth organization like Google. The biggest advantage is a fresh start. For
people my age who are now a few years out of college but have the same Facebook
account they did while they were in school — my profile spans from when I was
18 to now — it is so much easier to start anew on Google+ by placing people
into predefined circles instead of categorizing hundreds of friends into groups
you have to create.
Quite frankly, I don’t want to go through my 700-plus
friens and break people down into groups. I’m to the point where I’m more
likely to unfriend a person than create a group to place them in. My profile
contains photos and wall posts from when I was in college that seemed
appropriate for a 21-year-old to post but now might not be so appropriate for coworkers.
(Get your mind out of the gutter, people. I’m sure most of you are thankful
Facebook wasn’t around while you were in college.)
Another complaint I’ve heard is that Google+ is very limited
in its capabilities. Does anyone remember what early Facebook profiles were? There
were no status updates and no photo sharing capabilities. Facebook walls were rarely
used, and Facebook was only for personal use (read: no business or fan pages,
ads or official celebrity pages). There were also no obnoxious games or app
requests. (For the last time, Girl From My High School Who Has Too Much Time On
Her Hands: NO, I don’t want to help you on Farmville.)
Google+ hasn’t even been available for two months and is
still in the “Invite only” stage, yet it has more than 18 million users.
Eighteen million! Ben
Parr, editor-at-large for Mashable, recently posted on his Google+ page
that more than 22,000 people have him in their Google+ circles, and it took him
years to get to that many followers
on Twitter. While this is probably a little skewed because the people who
follow him are likely to also be some of the first to sign up for Google+, it demonstrates
the growth potential Google+ has. And as it continues to grow, it will add more
features and options.
With all that being said, there are some limitations to the
network. TechRepublic recently wrote an article outlining features
Google+ is still missing, and I agree with most of them. Yes, I would like
the option of sending someone a private message through Google+ instead of
having to send them something through email, but I can live without it – for
now. Also, verified accounts would be a great new feature, but it isn’t
necessary at this juncture.
Overall, Google+ can continue to grow its social media
market share if it continues to roll out new features and abilities over the
next few months, which it likely will. I may be standing on a limb compared
to my coworkers in the marketing department, but once Google+ opens
registration for everyone instead of sticking to the invite-only system, I
don’t see any reason why Google+ can’t reach 50 million users by the end of the
year, if not sooner. There. I said it.
What do you think of Google+'s potential? Will it leave Mark Zuckerberg shaking in his hoodie?