Beta Testing Plus

So I got an invite to Google+, or Google Plus, depending on how its stylized.  So far, it seems interesting, though its definitely in a very beta format.  While it shares a lot of similarities with Facebook, there are some very distinct differences which makes Google Plus more of a conglomerate of internet social media sites.  

I am not sure if Google Plus will catch on, but it sure is intriguing.  First thing you will notice about Google Plus is it has a lot of talk about circles.  This seems to be at the core of the Google Plus concept.  We each have our own circles of friends and people we talk to and they seem to have realized this.  The default circles are friends (who you feel comfortable sharing private information with), family, following (basically twitter...people whose post are interesting but you don't know), and Acquaintances (people who you have met, but aren't close to).  

screenshot of the Google+ "circle interface"

This idea of circles is very interesting and is like the Facebook "limited profile" taken to the next level.  Whenever you make a status or share something, you are prompted below to add circles to share it with.  So lets say you are a college student trying to find a party, but you don't want your family or coworkers knowing your personal life, you can stream them out.  You can include as many or as few circles as you want.     This can help to eliminate some of the harassing, stalking and "creeping" that people have complained about with Facebook and while these are the default circles, you can create your own and to add a person into a circle, all you have to do is drag their profile.  

Google Plus shares many of the basic aspects of Facebook too.  You can share pictures, links, and statuses, you can just choose who you share them with.  You can have profile pictures, chat with people in instant message style, and you have a "Stream" which is essentially the Facebook wall.  You have something they call sparks which is basically categories of interests that you can add to your profile.  








However, the stream, the sparks, and the profile have things that make them very unique to Google Plus.  You can filter streams so you can read only the streams of updates for certain circles.  One of the biggest problems I have noticed with Facebook growing bigger is that more and more people have more and more updates and its hard to just filter out the updates for certain people you want to read without going onto their profile and "creeping".  






The Sparks is also different than things you "like" because it is not a like page, but you can click it and get up to the date information on that certain interests.  With your profile, the google "+1" feature that has been around for a little while is included and so is Google Buzz.  Buzz was Google's last attempt at a social media network  that failed, but in the format of Google Plus, it is a good way to show posts around the web you are interested.  Lastly, you can view your profile to see what it looks like from different people on your friends list.  I have not done a lot with my profile so I will have to update on what that exactly entails.  




While at first I was a bit cynical about what Google Plus had to offer, Google impressed me once again.