Google+: All the Sharing of Facebook, Now with 100% less Zuckerberg

[Greg Bernhardt]

Last week, Google announced its long-awaited answer to Facebook: Google+. *The new social networking service debuted (as an invitation-only beta), along with a refresh of the look and feel of Google’s signature products like Search, Gmail, Maps, etc. *I’m still … http://virtualnavigator.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/google-all-the-sharing-of-facebook-now-with-100-less-zuckerberg/" http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=virtualnavigator.wordpress.com&blog=11498882&post=619&subd=virtualnavigator&ref=&feed=1

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[Greg Bernhardt]

I signed up for Google+ yesterday and had my first "Hangout" video chat. At the moment it's a bit sparse because many haven't been invited yet, but I like what I see. It is a lot cleaner and faster than Facebook. Once Google opens the flood gates I think FB will be in a real battle. Should be interesting!

 

[rhody]

Greg,

Not a FB or twitter fan, but does google+ offer anything useful without exposing your personal info to everyone, and in a way that you control, that others don't see ?

If you use any of these features, can you report back on the good, bad, ugly, and amazing (means it may be worth trying, at least for me)

Sparks,
Circles,
Hangouts, which you touched on already...

Can you participate in some without other features, or do some features require you to use others ?

Thanks...

Rhody... :shy:

 

[Chronos]

Facebook was never much more than a tech enabled version of icq.

 

[rhody]

It seems the FB has some serious performance issues of it's own, irrespective of the pressure from google+.

http://gigaom.com/cloud/facebook-trapped-in-mysql-fate-worse-than-death/"

During an interview this week, Stonebraker explained to me that Facebook has split its MySQL database into 4,000 shards in order to handle the site’s massive data volume, and is running 9,000 instances of memcached in order to keep up with the number of transactions the database must serve. I’m checking with Facebook to verify the accuracy of those numbers, but Facebook’s history with MySQL is no mystery.

The oft-quoted statistic from 2008 is that the site had 1,800 servers dedicated to MySQL and 805 servers dedicated to memcached, although multiple MySQL shards and memcached instances can run on a single server. Facebook even maintains a MySQL at Facebook page dedicated to updating readers on the progress of its extensive work to make the database scale along with the site.

The widely accepted problem with MySQL is that it wasn’t built for webscale applications or those that must handle excessive transaction volumes. Stonebraker said the problem with MySQL and other SQL databases is that they consume too many resources for overhead tasks (e.g., maintaining ACID compliance and handling multithreading) and relatively few on actually finding and serving data. This might be fine for a small application with a small data set, but it quickly becomes too much to handle as data and transaction volumes grow.

This is a problem for a company like Facebook because it has so much user data, and because every user clicking “Like,” updating his status, joining a new group or otherwise interacting with the site constitutes a transaction its MySQL database has to process. Every second a user has to wait while a Facebook service calls the database is time that user might spend wondering if it’s worth the wait.

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

Just in: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388325,00.asp"

Clearly, people are interested in Google+, but how many people are using the service? According to a recent report, it could be more than 4.5 million.

In a recent Google+ post, Ancestry.com founder Paul Allen (not to be confused with the Microsoft co-founder) pulled together some data based on US Census Data and the number of Google+ members with certain last names. His conclusion? Google+ is "growing like crazy" and likely has almost 5 million users.

and

Facebook, meanwhile, recently confirmed that it now has 750 million users, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company didn't publicize the milestone because user numbers are not as important as they once were. LinkedIn is also now the second most-popular social-networking service as MySpace continues to decline, TechCrunch reported.

Can you say giddyup... little doggie... release the hounds...

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

I love this: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218303/Google_Changes_coming_to_Google_this_week"

The biggest complaint has been around the circles in Google+, where users can group the people they're following and connected with in circles of similar interests or organizations.

"It would also be great if I could put circles within circles," wrote one user. Another said: "Sometimes you just want to merge circles. No easy way to do that.

If we are not careful, we may end up with E8 ! We have an expert here who could assist with that task, and then some. lol.

Rhody...

P.S. Rhody is on a roll, must be serendipidity at work, as best as I can tell...

 

[rhody]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/technology/personaltech/google-gets-a-leg-up-on-facebook.html"

Circles...enough to sway a large segment of FB users to switch ?

On Google+, you put the people of your life’s different social circles into — well, into Circles. That is, groups. Categories. Google starts you off with empty circles called Friends, Acquaintances, Family and Following (people you don’t know, but want to follow, as you would on Twitter). It’s a piece of cake to add new ones. They can be tiny circles (“Granny and Gramps”) or big ones (“Family Tree”), organization-based (“Fantasy League Buddies”) or arbitrary (“Annoying People”).

Creating them is a blast: an array of tiles represents your online acquaintances, which it assembles from your Gmail and other accounts. You drag each one into an actual on-screen circle, where they tumble into place. You can drag a person into more than one circle, of course. The lucky encircled friend will know that you’ve added him or her to a circle, but not which one, thank heaven.

From now on, every time you share something — a news item, a thought, a photo, a chat invitation — you can specify exactly which Circles receive it. In one fell swoop, Google has solved the layers-of-privacy problem that has dogged Facebook for years.

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=154236"

Ultimately, Google+ will find success among people who have diversified social networks (professionally, geographically, or interest-based) and who customize what they share with those social circles. It's also going to hinge on what gets shared back from other friends, but also from other content creators like brands, media outlets, musicians, and more. The best part about Google+ isn't that it's an information platform or that it's a content platform -- it's that it's both.

Whether Google can sufficiently diversify and differentiate its services and content to scale out beyond their beta testers and early adopters has yet to be seen, but the pieces are in place for success: a varied repertoire of services, simple yet fluid management of contacts and content, and both individuals and brands clamoring to contribute. Your mom may feel that Facebook is sufficient for keeping up with friends, but for those of us who live and work more fully online, Google+ is a compelling offer.

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

Seeing what Google+ has that Facebook doesn't...

http://venturebeat.com/2011/07/19/list-facebook-employees-on-google-plus/"

Presumably, there are many Facebook’s employees that share their boss’ attitude toward Google+. At least 62 Facebook employees have signed up for the new social service, according to an unofficial list compiled by Huffington Post Senior Editor Craig Kanalley.

The list includes many from Facebook’s executive team, including Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Chief Technology Officer Bret Taylor. Unlike Twitter, Google doesn’t verify the identity of popular users accounts. However, hovering over many of the Facebook employees on the list revealed that they were following each other, which at least suggests that these accounts are legitimate.

It makes sense that Facebook’s team would want to check out Google+. First of all, the service is intended as a competitor to Facebook. Its experienced massive growth of over 10 million new users in less than a month. Increasingly, publishers are reporting a boost in referral traffic from Google+ that’s equal to Facebook. Even businesses are frothing at the mouth to start utilizing all the new features Google+ has to offer. Dell, for instance, wants to use Google+’s Hangouts video chat feature for customer service.

If Facebook wants to anticipate a counter strategy for Google+, the company needs to understand what its up against.

Rhody... Keep your friends close, and your enemies... even closer... hehe...

 

[jhae2.718]

Seeing what Google+ has that Facebook doesn't...

http://venturebeat.com/2011/07/19/list-facebook-employees-on-google-plus/"

Rhody... Keep your friends close, and your enemies... even closer... hehe...

Facebook is at the disadvantage here; they don't have a http://www.google.com/jobs/lunar_job.html" yet.

 

[WatermelonPig]

But now I have to go and re-add everyone. Still, this looks much more promising that FaceBook especially the conference call capabilities.

 

[Borg]

LOL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGugj1ym594

 

[DoggerDan]

I've read that when it comes to social networking, Google+ is more like a relational database while Facebook is more like EDLIN.

After accepting an invitation to a friend's BBQ this weekend on Facebook, the first few entries were from other respondents. Without any demarcation, however, the entries morphed into posts from my wall and the walls of others. I've often seen posts out of chronological order, and have refreshed a FB page to watch some posts disappear while others posts I hadn't seen before suddenly appear, although they were hours old. Another refresh often brings up a different mix, making me think, "What am I missing, here?" and "What logic is behind what FB chooses to show me and what it leaves out?"

I'm on standby for Google+. According to them:

"We’re still ironing out a few kinks in Google+, so it’s not quite ready for everyone to climb aboard. But, if you want, we’ll let you know the minute the doors are open for real. Cool? Cool."

So, it's not quite ready for prime time.

 

[Borek]

So, it's not quite ready for prime time.

That's a standard Google policy, many of their services are in "beta" for years.

 

[rhody]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social...lus.better.cashmore/index.html?iref=obinsite"

FYI.

Google's new social networking service, might cautiously be called a hit. With 25 million visitors at last count, Google+ may well be the fastest-growing social network to launch thus far.

Seems like it is growing fast enough, that's for sure.

5. Group video chat

Still not enough to get me to try it, but I like this feature.

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

For those who took the plunge and are now swimming, treading water in Google+ land here are http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218679/40_Google_tips_and_tricks_for_power_users?source=toc" for you.

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

The Google+ 'ghost town' has plenty of life left

On the surface, this doesn't look promising. The ComScore data indicate that users with personal computers spent only an average of 3 minutes per month on Google+ in the last six months compared with about 7 hours a month on Facebook.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57...t-town-has-plenty-of-life-left/#ixzz1nhyYikWE

and...

-- the conversations are deeper and more varied, especially among people who are passionate about technology. Often you'll meet someone new on Google+, a perfect stranger who has something smart to say about a topic you're interested in. How frequently does that happen on Facebook, where you're more likely to get friend requests from a guy in high school who you never liked in the first place?

Agree, disagree with statement in blue above ? Shared experiences are welcomed.

Rhody...

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

To be honest I don't use Google+ much. I do like the hangout video chat though.

 

[rhody]

To be honest I don't use Google+ much. I do like the hangout video chat though.

Funny Greg,

You are one of the few who do. I have been looking for others to test it here with for my planned business venture next year. I am told that skype works better for connections outside of the US however.

Rhody...

 

[NeoDevin]

Funny Greg,

You are one of the few who do. I have been looking for others to test it here with for my planned business venture next year. I am told that skype works better for connections outside of the US however.

Rhody...

Really? There are lots of people using it. There are a couple of guys who do a weekly astronomy/space hangout on air, that anyone can watch. I know of at least one prof that has started using it for office hours. Even Obama had a hangout a little while ago. I myself use it to chat with family (my family is spread across the globe), which was especially convenient for 'getting together' for Christmas.

Generally when I log in, there are at least one or two hangouts going on that I could join (though I don't very often, since I'm usually logging in at work... shhhh).

Unrelated to your post:

I think one of the biggest problems people are having with Google+, and why some people keep saying it's a "ghost town", is that they're treating it like Facebook. They add their friends and family, who they already have as Facebook friends, and then wonder why there's nothing shared on Google+. Of course your friends and family aren't going to be posting everything on both networks.

By design or accident, Google+ has turned out less like Facebook and more like a richer version of twitter, with threaded conversations, or a personalized forum. Find people who share on the topics you're interested in (I haven't found a topic yet that I can't find people discussing), and follow them. You don't need to know them anymore than you need to know someone on PF to interact with their posts. On PF, we have a space designated for QM, a space designated for politics, etc. On Google+, you have one space that you can dedicate to all of your interests, or you can sort them out however you want. I have one circle for people who discuss parenting, one for science, one for tech, one for politics, etc. And ALL of them are extremely active, more than I can ever hope to read all of.