The Google+ Project

[hightowerlover]

Real-life sharing,rethought for the web.

Join A quick look at the first pieces of the project.

 
Sharing is a huge part of the web, a part that we think could be a lot simpler. That is why we have been working on adding a few new things to Google: to make connecting with people on the web more like connecting with them in the real world. We hope you like what we’ve cooked up so far. And stay tuned, because there is more to come.


Circles
 
You share different things with different people. But sharing the right stuff with the right people shouldn’t be a hassle. Circles makes it easy to put your friends from Saturday night in one circle, your parents in another, and your boss in a circle by himself, just like real life.

Sparks
 
Remember when your Grandpa used to cut articles out of the paper and send them to you? That was nice. That is kind of what Sparks does: looks for videos and articles it thinks you will like, so when you are free, there is always something to watch, read, and share. Grandpa would approve.
Watch video Watch video Hangouts
 
Bumping into friends while you are out and about is one of the best parts of going out and about. With Hangouts, the unplanned meet-up comes to the web for the first time. Let buddies know you are hanging out and see who drops by for a face-to-face-to-face chat. Until we perfect teleportation, its the next best thing.

Mobile Instant Upload
 

Taking photos is fun. Sharing photos is fun. Getting photos off your phone and on to the web is pretty much the opposite of fun. That is why we created Instant Upload: so that from now on, your photos upload themselves. You do not even have to say cheese.

Huddle
 

Texting is great, but not when you’re trying get six different people to decide on a movie. Huddle takes care of it by turning all those different conversations into one simple group chat, so everyone gets on the same page long before thumbs get sore.
© Google · Google+ Privacy


http://www.google.com/intl/en/+/learnmore/index.html

[KenFSU]

No, it will not replace Facebook. I think it will ultimately fail spectacularly, just as Google Wave did before it. Social networking startups absolutely need to have an edgy, cool, somewhat underground feel to them in order to take off and go viral, so to speak. Anything with the name Google attached will never draw the type of crowd needed for a social networking site to begin to get real traction.

I also think Facebook has peaked. It's not going anywhere, but we're seeing the first signs of an actual decline in Facebook. It's here to stay for another few years, but it's only a matter of time before the next big thing comes along.

Any other proud non-Facebook users around these parts? I totally recognize that there can be benefits, but I feel like my life is far better off without it.

[hightowerlover]

To me, the only thing unique is the "Circles" functionality that facebook attempted and failed to execute elegantly with "Groups".  I think the main problem with Facebook is that every time they try to roll out an "enhancement" it's auto-opted in and spews all your privacy out the window.  I think that Google sees that and is attempting to build in privacy restrictions from the get-go with Circles. 

But Google is certainly going to lure us in with shiny things and then sell all our info to market researchers for crazy money.  Oh well, who needs privacy any more.

[hightowerlover]

9 Reasons to Switch from Facebook to Google+
Can Google+ steal users from Facebook? Yep. There are good reasons to switch from Facebook to Google+, ranging from ease-of-use to respect for data privacy.
By Mark Sullivan, PCWorld    Jun 30, 2011 7:20 pm 

When people ask can Google+ beat Facebook? they are misstating the question. It is not about one site versus another site. Google+ is bigger than that. The reason Google calls it the Google+ Project is that Google+ will become a central part of Google's whole identity. It will reshape the company. So the real question is "can Google beat Facebook?" Put that way, the contest seems a lot more even.

Facebook, of course, has a huge head start, but there are good reasons for people to seriously consider dumping Facebook for Google+. [See our Hands-on Review]

1. Integration with Google Services

The biggest wedge Google has for driving people toward using Google+ is integration. That is, Google will build Google+ social networking features and tools into almost all of its existing online services from Search to Documents to Video (YouTube). Google+ is already integrated into the navigation bar at the top right of almost all Google products; this lets you monitor all Google+ events (updates, messages, etc.) as well as share content with friends without ever leaving the Google service you happen to be using. Millions and millions of people use Google's free services (Gmail, Docs, Search, etc.), and with Google+ bound so tightly to them it may start to seem silly to jump out to some other site (Facebook) to do your social networking.

2. Better Friend Management
[imghttp://zapp5.staticworld.net/images/article/2011/06/circles-5190846.png[/img]http://Google is right that the “Circles” concept is more in line with the way we make friends in real life. We have many different kinds of friends, and we interact with them and communicate with them in very different ways. Facebook’s Groups feature lets you form ad hoc groups of friends, but compared to the way its done in Google+ it seems cumbersome. After all, Facebook’s Groups feature is pretty new; it was “built on”, while friend "circles" are the bedrock of the Google+ platform.

3. Better Mobile App

If you're an Android user, you may find that getting content from your phone to your social platform is easier, cleaner more functional with the Google+ mobile app. The app is already great, but Google will seek more and more ways to make your Android phone a seemless appendage of your Google+ social platform. Google hopes to use its huge Android user base as a wedge against Facebook, whose mobile app, while nice-looking, is a little clunky to use.

4. Easier to Find Stuff to Share
Google+'s Sparks feature is another important differentiator from Facebook. Spark is Google leveraging its search engine to do something Facebook can’t do—give users an instant wellspring of relevant information to share with friends. Because Facebook has no search engine, its users must leave the site to find shareable data or wait for their friends the share it with them. The question "how do I find stuff to share" is immediately answered with Sparks.

Related Slideshow: Google+ vs. Facebook: See How They Compare http://www.pcworld.com/article/234859/google_vs_facebook_see_how_they_compare.html


5. You Can Get Your Data Back
Facebook is notorious for its poor stewardship of personal data. You are forced to make certain parts of your personal data "public" for example, and It is very hard to permanently delete your Facebook profile. Google, on the other hand, makes it possible for you to pick up all the data you’ve banked at Google+ and walk away. This is done through a Google+ tool called “Data Liberation.” With just a few clicks you can download data from your Picasa Web Albums, Google profile, Google+ stream, Buzz and contacts.

6. Better Photo Tagging
When viewing photos in Google+ you can “tag” the people in them similar to the way you do in Facebook. You draw a little square around a person's face, then type in their name in the box below it (or choose one of the names Google+ guesses). But there’s a big difference in the way Google handles the privacy aspect of photo tagging. When you tag someone, you see this note: “Adding this tag will notify the person you have tagged. They will be able to view the photo and the related album.” Facebook, on the other hand, does not make an effort to warn people the they’ve been tagged (possibly in an unflattering or compromising photo) and give them an immediate chance to remove the tag.

Also, Google has wisely decided to shy away from using facial recognition software, which Facebook now uses to automatically identify people in photos uploaded to user albums.

7. Strong Group Chat Features

Google+ has Facebook beat in the area of chat. Forming ad hoc group video chats using the Hangouts feature in Google+ is easy, and forming ad hoc groups for a little chat seems like a natural and fun thing to do in a social networking setting. Similarly, the new Huddle mobile app makes it easy for mobile (Android) users to start up group text chats. Facebook simply doesn't offer these tools.

8. Safer Content Sharing
Privacy advocates have long called for social networking sites to let users assign a privacy level to each piece of content they share, instead of using a pre-set list privacy settings to govern all shares. Google obviously heard those calls, and built the capability into Google+. For instance, when I share an article or upload a camera image, Google+ gives me choices of which friend circles I’d like to share that content with. Advantage Google+.

9. Google Is a Better Steward of Your Personal Data

Running a social network is all about responsible stewardship of users' personal information. Facebook is a young, fast moving company that has proved itself to be cavalier in its movements, lacking in respect for user data privacy, and accident prone. Google on the other hand, is a far more mature company that is, I would argue, seen as more trustworthy than Facebook. For the most part, Google has lived up to its “Don’t Be Evil” slogan. Which company would you rather have as the steward of your personally identifiable information?

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/234825/9_reasons_to_switch_from_facebook_to_google.html

[KenFSU]

Which company would you rather have as the steward of your personally identifiable information?

Neither

[peestandingup]

They turned off new signups yesterday (because of overwhelming response), but my friend at Google HQ hooked me up. Its pretty slick actually & I could see myself integrating it more into my real social life than I currently do Facebook.

If anyone needs an invite, PM me & I'll see what I can do. I think I know a workaround to get you in. Besides, I could use some more people in my circles.

[wsansewjs]

They turned off new signups yesterday (because of overwhelming response), but my friend at Google HQ hooked me up. Its pretty slick actually & I could see myself integrating it more into my real social life than I currently do Facebook.

If anyone needs an invite, PM me & I'll see what I can do. I think I know a workaround to get you in. Besides, I could use some more people in my circles.

Awesomesauce! =D

-Josh

[JeffreyS]

You can already make groups(circles) to share specific things with in Facebook.  Facebook may make this more visible but maybe not in their quest to make all things more social. Nothing very innovative here and Facebook has most of this in place in some form already.  You can set up to be warned about tagging it just is not the default.

Sparks scares me two years in it will think you are still interested in everything you have ever searched and be sending things to you all day every day.

Social media is social do not put things on social media you do not want out there. Use private communication for that.

[manasia]

Anyone got any google plus invites?