Aaliyyah Posted July 22, 2011 By RYAN BAUER | TBO.com Published: July 22, 2011 By now, you've probably heard about Google's new Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr-killing social service, Google Plus. But trying to figure out where the new network fits into your online life - if it does at all - might leave you a bit … nonplussed. Do you really need another social site to keep up with? Google has made Plus its top priority - even tying 25 percent of employees' annual bonuses to its success. They are serious about this and want to make Plus your end-all-be-all social destination. Early adopters have been overwhelmingly positive in their feedback. Official numbers for the first two weeks of the service see more than 10 million users, and outside estimates show current numbers more than double that. Google Plus is shiny, new and full of potential. Facebook's seven-year head start and 750 million users put it at an obvious advantage. Does Google Plus have enough to entice users to switch? What Google Plus offers Circles: You place your online contacts into groups called circles. You can create circles for family, friends, acquaintances, work - the possibilities are endless - and share your personal information and posts with only the circles you choose. Facebook offers similar functionality, but Google's intuitive interface is a grand slam. Hangout: The video chat service is like Skype on steroids. Up to 10 participants can be in a hangout at any given time, and video windows arrange themselves based on who is speaking. Sparks: This is a baked-in recommendation engine. Create Sparks for topics that interest you, and Google will cull the Web's best content and tailor fit a feed for you. When you find something cool, you're one click away from sharing it with your circles. Huddle: This is a free group messaging service that incorporates your individual contacts or circles. This feature is only available on mobile devices via the Google Plus app or SMS. One-stop shop: Google knows it's near impossible to make it through your day without using one of their services. Google Plus takes advantage of this with an ever-present navigation bar that displays all your notifications and even lets you share posts or update your status. What Google Plus needs Groups: Google has offered a groups service for many years, but it hasn't been integrated into Google Plus. Events: Google has a terrific calendar service but no integration with Google Plus. Also missing are birthday notifications. Entity pages: Pages for businesses, organizations, bands and more are coming soon. An API: An application programming interface is the underlying framework for a service that allows other entities to incorporate features of that service into their own applications and websites. Facebook's API, for example, allows its login credentials to be used to sign in to other sites. Aunt Maggie: Google developers can innovate all they want, but until you can find and connect with everybody in the real world (Facebook is more than 700 million users closer), Google Plus will have trouble dethroning the current social king. Google promises new features are on the way but, so far, there are many things that Facebook simply does better. So is it time to jump ship? Not quite yet. Google Plus is spreading across the Web like wildfire, but it's still available through invite-only beta testing. Are you on Google Plus? What do you think of the service's advantages and shortcomings so far? Leave your comments below. http://www2.tbo.com/entertainment/entertainment/2011/jul/22/google-plus-begins-climb-up-steep-social-mountain-ar-245675/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aaliyyah Posted July 22, 2011 Google+ More Private than Facebook but Not Perfect July 1st, 2011, 16:17 GMT| By Lucian Constantin Google+ still has privacy bugs Google's new privacy-oriented social network, Google+, has captured everyone's attention since it launched earlier this week, but people have already begun to discover flaws in the implementation. One of Google Plus' primary features is called "Circles," groups of people that users can create under their accounts and which are a fundamental part of the social network. Circles allow users to share some information only with certain categories of users, allowing for a fine-grained experience that is closer to the real life where, for example, not everyone you know is your friend and not everything you share with friends you want your family to see. However, it wasn't long until bugs that break this chain of trust surface. First, it people discovered that after information is shared with a circle, they have no way of controlling what those users do with it. Sharing a post without disabling the "resharing" feature for it from the beginning was a done deal. Users couldn't go back and change their mind. However, Google reacted quickly and enabled a menu for already posted items that allows resharing to be disabled. Another reported privacy bug involved photo tagging. For example, if a user shared a photo with a particular circle and someone in that circle tagged an outside person into that picture, that person could have reshared it with anyone they wished. This was fixed and resharing is now impossible if the original poster disables it, however, tagging outside persons into the picture in order to give them access to it still works. This is because sharing and tagging work independently. One possible fix would be to give users the power to disable tagging for photos too, but it remains to be seen how Google will choose to address the problem. Google+ is still in a closed beta phase and users need an invitation to join. This means that bugs like these will continue to be identified and fixed until the network is opened to everyone. Therefore, if you do join at this stage, be cautions about what kind of information you share. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cawaale Posted July 22, 2011 Its not about the number of people who are registered, its about the actual number of active users. Nobody wants to integrate FB with Twitter. Talk about Google and its competitive cloning mind. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cawaale Posted July 22, 2011 Horta are u there, let me find you bal. :cool: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Axmed-InaJaad Posted July 22, 2011 google is trying to do to facebook what microsoft has been trying to do to google. will not work. ppl are inherintly lazy and will not switch unless something drastic happens to facebook. then again myspace was way ahead of facebook and look at where they are now. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aaliyyah Posted July 22, 2011 I think there is hope for it, and it is more private than Facebook, and that will attract many users. Cawaale, I'm going to join, but not yet! in few months! Hopefully they will offer more things salaam Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Axmed-InaJaad Posted July 22, 2011 how do people keep track of all these social media sites, google,tumblr, facebook, twitter. they must all have ADD. no wonder most north americans are fat, cuz their sitting on their *** poking each other on facebook 24/7 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jacaylbaro Posted July 22, 2011 I'm using it now .... it is kinda cool and more friendly than the FB. But as the above article suggested there are many things missing so far. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aaliyyah Posted July 22, 2011 lol jacylbaro u are already on it ..ma kaliga ba ka hesaya mise ur friends made accounts too?..give us some feedback!.. salaam Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jacaylbaro Posted July 22, 2011 The only problem is that i have only 2 friends right now ,,,, waa inaan dadka FB ka soo jiidaa horta oon xagan ku soo daraa I'm already receiving some friendship requests from strangers .... and the Google+ is saying even if you don't add them, they will see the information you are sharing publicly. So I can see it is a mix of FB and Twitter where even the unconfirmed friend can still follow your public posts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aaliyyah Posted July 22, 2011 looool I know it will probably take some time for people to close their fb accounts n switch, so im not going to rush to google plus! will wait couple of months lol@ receiving friendship frm strangers. Don't accept them, been there done that with facebook..waqtilumis. kuwa aan face to face ku aqaano aaba ka shakisnahay wa ka meel kale ka joga lols.. as for it being like twitter (thats only if u share stuff publicly and there is no reason why you would even wanna do that) Unless u wanna have random admirers lol..(shaqa la'aan badana when someone u didnt even accept as a friend following u (thats one reason y i never had a twitter account)..I pretty much tried everything at some point in my life minus twitter!... salaam Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jacaylbaro Posted July 22, 2011 They don't have to close fb first and join google ,,, they can do both for the moment and i'm sure google will slowly steal all of them. I never accept strangers and I'm even picky on those i already know. But the problem here is that even if you don't accept they will still see your public posts. which is still good specially when you post links to news, stories, interesting issues and so on. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aaliyyah Posted July 22, 2011 That's good then. I was always picky abt strangers when I first joined facebook, bt then after a while u get too comfortable or at least I did maybe it was something I picked up for some of my friends lol...n then before I know it my list had couple of ppl I have never met hahha..something I never intent to repeat!..so good to know ur picky...keep it that way! n yeah I guess when u have general news it doesn't matter ..bt then again when they see those posts (ur friends are also gonna post under that link right and ur follower now knows who ur friends are, that's kinda creepy no? LOL..mise im overthinking it).. so how does the profile pic works? can u make it private just to ur friends and their friends? or is it like facebook..everyone is gonna see it? salaam Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jacaylbaro Posted July 22, 2011 Not everyone is gona see your profile pic ,,,, you can control that as well. I can see the google one is public ,,,, i should probably remove that ugly me there now You're overthinking dee ,,,,, allow people to see you and see some of your friends but as long as they cannot see your profile it is Ok. But never underestimate the strangers ,,, some became really better than my best friends ,,,, it all depends on people but some are really good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aaliyyah Posted July 22, 2011 what u mean the google one is public? you just said you can control it? I love uploading my profile picture as long as only my friends can see it..and not complete strangers..I wouldnt wanna end up on youtube. God Forbid! LOL lol@ never underestimate the strangers..I thought u just said u never add strangers? so how would u come to that conclusion haha..anyways I see ur point. salaam Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
