Why Google+ Is Starting to Suck
Although Google+ continues to grow (it now has 100 million users, according to Larry Page) I’m afraid that while the stats may be on the rise the quality of the platform itself is going downhill.
When I signed up for Google+ in July of last year, it was like a breath of fresh air. It was inhabited by ‘early adopters’: people who are the first to sign up for new websites and to participate on them. Luckily for Google, these early adopters are also the world’s ‘influencers’ and they were positive and hopeful about this new social media baby.
That was then, this is now: like others I’m starting to lose faith in Google’s ability to turn G+ into a network where people come to discuss serious issues. Increasingly, it’s becoming a carbon copy of Facebook. People are reduced to sharing cat gifs and other fancy images (often with so-called ‘inspiring’ oneliners accompanying them).
The reason? I’m afraid that G+ lost most of its appeal when it opened to the public at large. The masses don’t care about quality conversations; they want fluff. To keep up with the trend, even influencers (with, again like me, many thousands of followers) change their posting behavior. We’re now at a point where I wonder why I’m logging in; sure there still are some good and interesting posts published on G+, but I can find their authors also at other social networking sites that are more focused on professionals.
Read: LinkedIn.
It became even worse when Google+ got a complete redesign that actually emphasizes images and photos. That’s great for the visually oriented, I guess, but for those of us who want to learn something from other people, it isn’t useless but frustrating. We suddenly see “trending topics,”"what’s hot” and posts that consist of a gigantic image, with no or little thoughts offered with it.
How that is supposed to inspire interesting conversations is beyond me.
Can Page et al. turn it around? Can G+ once again become the place on the Net for me to talk about technology and social media, and of course politics?
Perhaps. But I’m losing faith.
Yeah, sport. “unwashd masses”
That’s a sure sell here, among us unwashed types.
Friends don’t let friends do social media. <-That's a period.
Google+? Never heard of it.
This is a trick question, Google+ always sucked.
I see surely some valid points here, but this is naturally happening when something goes to public entirely.
Still i’m very glad i could filter out and organize people per interests, so now if, for example, i want to have some posts or discussions with my linux tech circle or music circle, can easily find those great materials and persons. Just happened that some new folks found me to get them personally into the linux world and help them through the first steps, just as example. However it took quite a time until i cleared the circles manually and with extensions and got a main group of very mixed contents, from jokes (like i also post) to music, tech. Wasn’t easy at all.
I had to sign up for Google Plus because of an app on my Android phone (I don’t remember which one), but I haven’t used it for anything. It looked like a cleaner version of Facebook. But I think Facebook absolutely sucks, so that’s damning it with faint praise. I like Twitter, though.
Dear Michael Van Der Galien, Early Adopter and Influencer:
It must be really suck for an influencer like yourself to see all the yucky people messing up your thing.
-MD
MD, got to agree with you entirely.
I would have used words like arrogant and worse, but then I am not a nice person.
I take on board the serious point that is being made, but the article does come across as it was cool until the “ordinary” people were allowed in.
If you don’t like the fluffy cats then you shouldn’t be following those sort of people, it is quite easy to deal with. You can keep it high tech and relevant if you wish, it is your choice, G+ allows you to do that.
I ditched G+ because there was no one on there that I really knew and that eventually became an issue for me.
Interesting post, thanks.
Good Lord, what a dick. Mr. Potterton Van Der Hooven III. Is this post a spoof? I’m ready to leave Google+ just to avoid ever meeting this guy.
I have hardly ever seen someone so full of himself as Van der Galien and his “masses don’t care about quality conversations; they want fluff”. Shame, Miky. I’ll make a post about this on G+ that you can read if you unblock me. Thank you, you know who, for pointing it out.
Strive for quality of quantity. Actually use circles as they were intended, be selective on who you place in your circles, and you’ll find your problems go away. If you just circle everybody willy nilly, you shouldn’t be surprised.
Here’s the link to my post with some interesting comments:
https://plus.google.com/101387092275812938679/posts/Xx7uYDQ6oi5
Mike DePaul6:44 PM+3
Sounds like the same stuff iOS people said about Instragram on Android. Seems petty and elitist.
Ralph Jones6:58 PM+1
Most people with those complaints fell into a trap after having favored quantity over quality. He rushes to get his thousands of followers/contacts, and wonders why he has to filter through a lot of garbage to find the nuggets.
Many users take the time to actually setup various circles etc… but too few of them actually use those circles as they were intended, then wonder why they have to dig through what they perceive as garbage to find what they’re looking for.
Tom Voute7:12 PMEdit+1
Would it be an idea to have a functionality to subscribe to not-Public? By doing so, you can follow the ones that someone posts to you specifically but as a reader you get to skip reading the more popularly written public stuff.
Ralph Jones7:20 PM (edited)
+Tom Voute Yes, that would be nice. I’ve always thought the circles selection in the stream should be on toggle switches. I’d really like to be able to turn off public posts or specific circles. The way it’s setup now it’s either All or One, which is can be a pain when you have several circles.
Riemer Thalen7:31 PM (edited)+1
Isn’t this one of the reasons G+ has circles? I do not have any boring or annoying posts in my stream since I created a circle called Fridge. The Fridge is completely shut out of the stream by the slider. Anyone who is getting dull or nagging, is moved to the Fridge, permanently or temporarily. Think of Robert Scoble when he polluted his posts with his private war over noise controls.
+Tom Voute +Ralph Jones I agree. I got to use the cicrle slider as an on/off switch too. Waiting for PlusMinus to be updated, aren’t we?
Annelouise Verboon8:23 PM+1
My fridgecircle is called northpole +Riemer Thalen
Irving Drommond8:24 PMTranslate – Reply
Sensed him getting too full of himself a couple of months ago…
Brendan Thesingh8:41 PM
Haha, I like that one +Riemer Thalen. Locking out Scoble witth noise control after he creates noise with his whining about not having enough noise controle. An integrated stream function owuld be nice though.
Brendan Thesingh8:42 PM
Haha, maybe Michael doesn’t like the fact that Mitt Romney is not the most popular candidate on G+ and that Apple is not so loved here. Speaking of which Tom, I think you owe me a bottle of red wine.
Euro Maestro8:45 PM
I’m wondering if +Marc Belley has seen this post.
Jacq vd Putte-Hage8:47 PM
Who?
Marc Belley8:55 PM (edited)
Thanks for the heads up, +Euro Maestro.
Yeah the way the guy writes is really off-putting … but like we concluded in the other thread, some points definitely are valid. I want to believe anyone who talks about themselves in the 3rd person or refers to himself as an ‘influencer’ is trolling. :\
Tom Voute8:58 PMEdit
+Brendan Thesingh -1
+Marc Belley +1
Caspar Kleijne9:20 PM
But what is the point of this post +Tom Voute ? What kind of goal are you aiming for with this discussion?
Tom Voute9:32 PMEdit+2
+Caspar Kleijne I was trying to get a reaction from you and I succeeded! +1 for myself. It’s interesting, I know exactly when I get this reaction from you. It’d be a great functionality if I can send something Public minus the people who I feel I annoy with a specific post. Another idea similar to the one above.
Marc Belley9:36 PM
That highlights one of the major problems with circles/limited/sharing … public posts aren’t filtered so everyone gets them. There’s no stream management solution.
Caspar Kleijne9:37 PMTranslate – Reply
+Tom Voute
I love you
Riemer Thalen10:17 PM (edited)+1Translate – Reply
+Marc Belley It would be great if I not only could add you to my circles, but also could select which one of your “public circles” I’d like to follow. Unfortunately, we do not have public circles (yet?).
On the other hand, as long as you do not have more than 5.000 followers, you can circle the ones that need special treatment.