If you are using social networks such as Twitter and Facebook you must have heard of Google Plus
Google Plus was launched June 28 this year as an invite-only networking service and so far its has created a storm in the social networking scene. Some have even called it the Facebook killer or Twitter twister or whatever. Google Plus is so far in its field testing phase but its growth rate has been nothing short of phenomenal! Its user base has grown at an alarming rate since its inception. Google Plus has taken only about five weeks to reach 25 million users where as with Facebook and Twitter it took almost three years. MySpace did a little better by doing it in about 20 months.
But, do we really need another social network?
The short answer to that question is of course we don’t. We are already wasting plenty of time hanging out on Facebook, Quora, Twitter, FourSquare, Instagram and the like. However, Google thinks there’s room for one more. Actually, they think that its time somebody finally does it right. Google Plus is combining all the best features from the other social networks and tries hard not to repeat their mistakes such as the privacy issues of Facebook or the limited communication space on Twitter. It has a news feed section similar to Facebook but it’s not limited to 140 characters as on Twitter. It also has photo and video sharing features, and it has games. Yes, I’m talking about Angry Birds and some other cool time wasters.
As Google Plus is developed by Google you will need a Google account such as Gmail to log on and use it; and that is one of the most interesting and competitive features of the Google+ service. It has perfect email integration, something that all the other networks have struggled to develop properly. There are over 200 million Gmail accounts in the world and that fact alone makes it a serious competitor to Facebook and the rest. The other distinctive feature is the ability to divide your contacts into separate groups, or circles as they are called. This allows you to distribute different messages to different audiences. You can keep in touch with your friends and family with one circle and with your business acquaintances with another. Quite handy, eh?
As I mentioned Google Plus is currently in test mode and invitation only. If you would like to give it a go, just subscribe to the Email delivery of this blog top right as I will be posting out my invites later on this week.
Kris Olin, MSc (Econ.) * Editor in Chief at Social Media Revolver * Web Designer * SEO Specialist * Author of the Facebook Advertising Guide. Follow Kris on Twitter and LinkedIn. See his photos at Flickr.
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