Google is in the beginning stages of unraveling their very own social network. What will make this different from previous attempts and how does Google plan on competing with Facebook and the other rising social networks that we all know and love (most of us at least).
Google+ is currently accessible by invite only. My question is – how can you test or gauge the success of a new social network without users? How can you get an invite? With that being said, this is Google we are referring to so I trust that there is a method to their madness and regarding getting your own invite, it seems you are better off waiting for the social experiment to go public.
After several unsuccessful attempts at breaking into the social networking scene, will users even be interested in the Google+ project? The answer to that is yes. If you follow real time search for “Google+” you will see what I mean. It seems there is a pretty good buzz around Google’s social network and that people are eager to give it a whirl (including myself).
What’s Google+ All About?
Google+ is about circles, sparks, and hangouts.
Google explains circles as:
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.
Google explains sparks as:
Remember when your Grandpa used to cut articles out of the paper and send them to you? That was nice. That’s kind of what Sparks does: looks for videos and articles it thinks you’ll like, so when you’re free, there’s always something to watch, read, and share. Grandpa would approve.
And lastly, they explain hangouts as:
Bumping into friends while you’re 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’re hanging out and see who drops by for a face-to-face-to-face chat. Until we perfect teleportation, it’s the next best thing.
There are also mobile features and group chat options. After browsing through some material on Google+, it seems legit but we will see what the people have to say when the project goes public. For now, just hang tight and maybe you will get an invite of your own…
Click the following link for an interactive tour of The Google+ Project.
Here is a blog post by one of the invited users.
Post by Craig Kilgore – search marketing specialist @mainstreethost
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