I’m going to start straight off. Abrupt, it’s not my style, but here I go.
What exactly is that, which makes Google+ unique?
Circles? Hangouts? (Yea! But as you’ll see, that’s not what I’m aiming at.) Huddle? Sparks?
No! No! No!
Yea, sure, they are all pretty cool features, a few of them unique, yes. But where are we going? The above features are all, the aesthetics of a social networking website and let’s face it, at one point or another, Facebook (or some other social site) is going to have them, in the same way or another, maybe somewhat better. But, even after all of that, the question remains.
What makes, and what will make, Google+ unique? I mean, really, really, really unique. Huh? Well, well. As I see it, there are a couple of things.
1. Content Sharing
Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, claims, “I’m trying to make the world a more open place.” Truth be said, he tried to do his best, and I’m sure he’s nowhere near being ready to stop trying.
Google+ & Facebook. They seem to be similar. Although, G+ is a brand new player in the game, I find G+’s contribution in ‘making the world an open place’ far greater than that of Facebook. And that makes all the difference. Why is that?
You see, there is so much going on around in G+, so much content being shared, by so many people, from Michael Dell, who shares tech tidbits to Trey Ratcliff, the amazing photographer, whom if you follow, he would make sure to leave you in awe with most of his posts, which come along with stunning photographs. They are just two names, to give a ‘for instance’. There are so, so, so many cool and sexy people out there on plus. Like Chris Pirillo, and hey, if you want to follow that guy, have a separate circle for him, just him. Don’t blame me later that I didn’t warn you about that lot of ‘some-goofy-some-cool’ GIFs.
Also, G+ Tips, a profile manned by, well, another cool guy, which has been doing a great job of sharing, re-sharing tips & all other things that are Google Plus. G+ Tips has come up with a cool concept of pre-fab circles (inspired by people sharing their own lists of famous people to follow, here’s one), which are custom made circles of like (in many aspects) people. And just now, the concept of G+ Tribes has come up in my stream. See, constant & consistent Innovation, that’s how I would put it.
Whatever may be the thing that intrigues you, you would find someone on Google+, posting stuff that you would be interested in, on a daily basis. Follow anyone you want to, (those Googlers, I simply adore those guys) they do not need to befriend you for that, just like on Twitter. This Twitter style, sans any character limits and sans any restriction to share, well, anything; this alone makes Google+ a gazillion times better than Facebook. You just have to experience it to the core to realize what I’m trying to tell you. Over the past two weeks, there has always been much more than enough content to keep me engaged. With Facebook, it was never like this. Facebook IS NOT stagnant. Even though, I’m not an early adopter of Facebook, I’ve been there for quite a while to appreciate all those funny videos that make your stomach ache, the elegant views of your friends on a wide variety of things and happenings, that event which you would not miss for the world, etc. I’m not trying to tell you to completely switch over. I just hope you get to know how big, the scope of G+ is, and as the saying goes, “Everything is relative”, and when compared to G+, Facebook IS stagnant.
Plus’ inherent design makes it a site where you can engage & interact more. The techies have got it. Most believe that G+ is the coolest addition to the social networking arena, perhaps ever. Big names like Kevin Rose, Mike Elgan, and many others have made Google+ their only way of sharing content with people, by bidding goodbye to their blogs. KevinRose.com&Elgan.com, see?
As Mike Elgan aptly puts it, “Google+ is the new medicine to end the social networking fatigue.” Also, you may want to follow Elgan’s G+ diet. Here is the link for the first day. I’m sure you’ll find the rest on your own if you’re interested.
This is the kind of online environment that sets you free from all those creepy worries that you get when you have a thought like “Oh God! This info is publicly available! Should I make it Private?” Every time on Google+, when I have something to share, something tells me, urges me, to make it public, to share it with the world, which in turn would share with you equally awesome, sexy, cool or more awesome, sexier, cooler things. So, this style of content sharing is one thing in which Google+ currently stands out on the top, and it will, I believe, for a long time to come, when compared with other social networking sites. I’ve tried to elucidate you all my views about how, when compared to G+, I repeat, when compared to G+, Facebook has become mundane. You may want to read more on that, and for that, you’ve got to follow Christina Trapolino. She has the knack of putting her thoughts in a more convincing, a more beautiful and a more wonderful way, than I ever could. I’ll let these couple of posts do the rest of the talking. In fact these are the posts that initially inspired me to write an article like this. Here you go, Post1 & Post2.
2. A Humble Yacht? OR, A Luxurious Cruise? Your Choice.
Recently, I shared a rather humorous image in one of my posts. Yes, the one that’s below.
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| Google+ versus Facebook? |
Well I seldom share stuff without any preceding text content. So this is how it went on:
“And you were talking about the war? Facebook versus Google? I would not want to get in to one of those discussions, but isn’t it obvious already? And a smiley now.. 
”
Albeit it’s sort of a funny image, there’s a subtle message that it carries behind the humor. I had to make sure that people got the exact meaning. And so went an extra comment from my side.
“What the above image is trying to convey primarily, is not what you may think after a first glance. It is NOT about comparing Facebook and + and having an argument about, which one is better or will be, in the long run in the social front. Most of the Facebook aficionados are saying, or are of the belief, ‘+ will be subdued by Facebook. It’ll come to an end just like ‘Wave’ did.’ There’s a zero chance that’ll happen, because it’s clear, Google is trying to unify everything. Eventually, we all, well, most of us, would do everything on the web under the name Google. The Perfect Experience, that’s how it’ll be in my view. That’s what the future holds. It’s your choice after all, whether to travel in a luxurious cruise ship, OR a humble yacht.”
*Sigh!* There you go. A long post and a couple of things that make G+ unique for me. So, tell me, what are your views on Google+?
