Three Reasons I Give Google a Plus
Regardless of those naysayers, (including Mr. Zeege at Google) I think Google is getting it right with Google+. Sure there’s a lot left to do – expand API’s, roll out the business application and integrate more Google apps. But it’s barely six months old.
I also don’t view Google+ as competition for Facebook. It’s an alternative. Facebook is where I go to share stuff with friends and family who I already have a real life relationship with. Google+ is much broader than that.
Balancing my Facebook Profile and my Facebook business Page is challenging. Google+ makes this much easier. Everything falls under my Google account profile and I can choose to keep my personal friends in different circles than my professional ones.
I read a blog post recently by Brent Rose in Gizmodo where he gave 5 reasons why he believes Google+ doesn’t suck. Using his article as a jumping off point, I present a few reasons of my own.
1. Google+ is a content buffet.
There is more stuff being produced and consumed there than you’ll find on a Caribbean Cruise Charter.
Although I don’t follow hundreds of people, finding compelling content in whatever circle I choose to play in is easy – as is finding cool people to follow. Here are a couple of links: recommendedusers.com, group.as and http://www.gpeep.com/
2. Google+ is like the flower child of a social media threesome: Twitter, Facebook and Blogging.
Unlike Twitter, you’re not limited to 140 character which makes it cumbersome to engage in any lengthy or deep conversation. Twitter to me is primarily a news stream. It’s easier to navigate the privacy settings in Google+ than Facebook and the response time from commenters is much faster than you’ll get on a blog (assuming your not Chris Brogan or Gini Dietrich).
3. Google+ pushes your buttons.
I’m a big “Circle” fan. “Straight” never appealed to me. I‘ve always liked a bit of a curve in my lines and a little surprise in my life. Google+ is full of incredible artists, journalists, designers and photographers that will challenge you. Maybe it’s a case of the algorithms not quite figuring out my preferences yet, but I love being surprised by what comes across my feed each day. It’s not just a matter of news or great links, but it’s the difference between reading news and reading columnists. You get what’s trending with editorial which elicits comments that sometimes are more compelling than the original post.
I haven’t gone into a lot of features, but there is one thing that I absolutely love about Google+ that I’m surprised Facebook hasn’t copied.
You can edit a post once you share it. And to share, you actually have to hit the “share” button.
None of this hit “enter/return” crap that not only makes it so easy to have a premature expedition, but also means you have to delete and start your update again from scratch.
(Whew, got that off my chest.)
What about you? Are you on board yet?
If you are, be sure to circle me, it you’re not, come on and play. It’s fun AND educational too! 
[...] in the end nothing is perfect. To some, the iPhone is awesome, to others, it has flaws; to some Google+ is doing it right, to others, there’s still work to be done. For me, I realized I needed a plan that had some [...]