Google+ has been out for a couple of months now and I have to say, I’m still not all that impressed.
I understand that the +1 button is going to play a HUGE role in search, but as far as social goes, Google+ is just not doing it for me. My co-workers have reviewed Google+ and time and time again keep trying to convince me that Google+ is better than Facebook and Twitter.
Don’t get me wrong, I know change is good but my biggest problem ultimately comes down to Facebook and Twitter.
I’ve been a member of Facebook since February 2005. I’ve slowly had a chance to grow my friends list on Facebook and have used it to connect with close friends and family. More recently I’ve started connecting with members of the gymnastics world, SEO industry and even my co-workers. With Facebook’s uphill battle with privacy, I’ve always kept it to be fairly personal and not really gone into the “corporate” world with Facebook on my personal page.
Facebook pages is another thing. I have many pages out there that I moderate. While I don’t make the best use of all of them for promotion, I think it is a great way for a business to connect with their followers, advertise their business and keep everyone who cares in the know.
I first joined Twitter back in 2007 and played around with it a little bit. It wasn’t until a client wanted some integration with Twitter in 2008 that I really started getting to know my way around Twitter. Today I’m a Twitter addict. I’ve found it has become the BEST resource for learning. If you have questions, the Twitter community answers them. Looking for articles? Someone is bound to post at least 3 dozen good ones a day. Twitter has been nothing but good to me over the years.
At the end of the day, these two social networks (and Ravelry) suck up most of my time. Between these three social networks, I follow everyone that I want to follow. Starting with Google+ I feel like I’m starting all over again in building my follower lists and there is so much overlap between Twitter and Facebook that I’ve found myself ignoring pretty much every post on Google+.
I know Google+ has the opportunity to change your who sees what (Facebook does now too) and the ability to “hangout” but I have yet to use that features. Am I just not connecting with the right people?
I’ve often thought that I might use it more once they roll out Google+ for businesses, but until that happens I’m just sitting here feeling like I’m missing what all of the hype is about.
Other than another place for me to post my blog articles, I have not really found a reason that has left me checking Google+ every day. Every once and awhile I’ll login and comment on a post there instead of leaving a comment on someone’s blog, but other than that I don’t see why I should dedicate more time to it.
I’ve asked my co-workers and now I’m asking the blog world:
What is your favorite part about Google+? Do you see yourself using it more often than Facebook and Twitter? Why?
Leave a comment and let me know. I’m curious to know why everyone thinks Google+ is the place to be!