Finding the familiar in Google+: A comparison to Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Reddit & Google Search
By Emlyn Chand/ So this is my third week uncovering the wonderment that is Google+. If my general overview of the site and comprehensive explanation of the hangout feature weren’t enough to get you excited, I think I might know the problem.
You’re frightened (or at the very least overwhelmed) by this unknown frontier of social media!
There, there. It will be alright. I promise. Let’s change our outlook, shall we? Instead of focusing on the newness and differentness of this networking site, let’s look at how it is familiar. Part of what makes + so powerful is its incorporation of and improvement upon features we already know and love from other social media sites. So today we won’t talk about the awe-inspiring innovations. Let’s draw out the familiar.
Here goes… Let’s talk about how Google+ is like:
- the main interface looks kind of Facebook-y
- the status updates are similar to Facebook in that they don't have a restricted character count and can share pictures, links, videos, and locations
- the status updates allow for commenting and +1ing (which is akin to liking)
- you can add your friends into circles to sort them like grouping your friends on Facebook
- the main profile page looks like a Facebook profile wall
- you can create photo albums to share with your friends
- you don't have to share every update with everyone, you can pick and choose which circles to share with
- you can chat with your friends from the main interface – just like Gmail, but you can chat with more than one friend at a time
- you can add people to circles and they can add you, but it doesn't have to be mutual (like Twitter following-followed)
- the main stream moves very quickly, which is more reminiscent of Twitter than Facebook
- you're more likely to connect with a huge group of people rather than just family and highschool alumni
- you can add your friends into circles to sort them like you would do on Twitter via lists
- the profile info is a bit sparse, I actually used my Twitter bio for +
Reddit/Delicious
- by +1ing an article on the web, you'll be adding it to the +1 tab on your profile as a way of bookmarking articles
- you can remove bookmarked articles by deleting them from your profile or un-+1ing them on their original sites
Google Search
- the Sparks feature is like a saved Google search, it finds articles you might like based on preselected terms
- you can view all photos of your friends or of yourself in a layout reminiscent of Google image search
- giving a +1 may improve page rank in the Google search results as would an inbound link
Skype
- you can talk to your friends via video
- you can open a chat window along side your video chat
- you can video chat with multiple people at once as you would be able to with a Skype premium account
Follow-up with us next week to learn something new
I know there's still so much more to say about Google+, but at the moment, I'm fresh out of ideas. What would you like to know about it? Leave your request as a comment to this post. Maybe next week I'll blog a response to your question.
Want a Google+ invite?
And if this post has gotten your heart pumping to the tune of pu-pu-pu-plus, I’d be happy to send you an invitation to try it out. Just post your email as a comment to this blog article or get in touch with me on one of Novel Pulicity’s many social networks. I hope you’re excited about this new network!
Emlyn Chand is the president of Novel Publicity and a YA author. She loves to hear and tell stories and emerged from the womb with a fountain pen grasped firmly in her left hand (true story). Her first novel, Farsighted, will be available in late 2011. Learn more about Emlyn at www.emlynchand.com or by connecting with her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or GoodReads.
