Computer and Library Learning (Archived)

Google+ (or Google Plus) is another attempt by Google to enter the world of social networking. Previously, Google had introduced Google Buzz in early 2010, only to face a lawsuit and settlement around the issue of consumers’ privacy. Google Buzz, when invoked in Gmail, followed everyone in one’s Gmail contact list, regardless of context, and made that information publicly available in one’s profile, unless one used Edit Profile and unchecked the Display box to hide the information of others.

Google Plus is currently in beta mode and was supposed to be accessible by invitation only but “insane demand” resulted in a suspension of the invitation process after just six hours. On the Official Google Blog, Vic Gundotra announced on June 28, 2011 that Google aimed to fix awkward online sharing with the introduction of the Google+ project.

Google Plus has several features:

“Circles” allows users to share information selectively with people of choice.

“Sparks” encourages users to engage in conversations on content of shared interests.

“Hangouts” builds on “Circles” and allows users to engage in video conversations with people of choice.

“Instant Upload” is available for mobile users to share photographs to a private, cloud-based album provided that users have given permission to Google.

“Huddle” builds on “Circles” as a group messaging system to let members of a group know what is happening at the moment.

What do the commentators have to say about Google Plus? Participation has been limited by the “invitation only” feature being discontinued but the “Hangouts” video feature appears to be attracting attention. Google Chat and Picasa are integrated with Google Plus, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail contacts can be imported into Google Plus but there is no link with Twitter even though Google Buzz is linked.

Patrick Miller, writing on PCWorld, offered eight tips and tricks for handling Google Plus, including: adjusting one’s email notifications for Gmail users by going to the Google Account options to de-select the unwanted notifications. thereby reducing spamming of Gmail accounts;  changing one’s profile field sharing settings to control information sharing; and disabling the resharing feature. Another PCWorld writer, Mark Sullivan, offered nine reasons for people to switch from Facebook to Google Plus, including: Google services integration (i.e. Gmail, Google Docs etc.); superior management of “friends” using Google “Circles”; superior mobile app; Google’s search engine technology facilitates finding things to share through “Sparks”; better data handling; superior photo tagging; strong group chat features through “Hangouts” and a similar “Huddle” mobile app for Android users; arguably, better protection of personal data; and, arguably, safer content sharing. Jared Newman, also of PCWorld, offered a comparative, visual slideshow of how Facebook and Google Plus stack up against one another.

There seems to be a difference of opinion about Google Plus regarding privacy. One observer counted 13 privacy settings with brief textual descriptions as well as access to another page to edit individual categories. Another noted that privacy was a basic value proposal of Google Plus in contrast to the idea of universal broadcasting on Facebook and Twitter. Ryan Singel on Wired.co.uk put Google Plus ahead of Facebook on the privacy file for now. Tim Bradshaw of the Financial Times wrote about a privacy flaw with the Google Plus’ resharing feature where someone can go beyond their Circle and share something with anyone.  Anson Alexander published an article on his blog about “Managing Google Plus Privacy Settings” whereby a Google Plus user can control who can view specific profile information, namely anyone on the web, extended circles, your circles, only you, or use custom to have full control over the privacy settings of particular information in the profile.

The Facebook versus Google Plus debate will continue undoubtedly as Google Plus moves beyond its beta, invitation-only stage.