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Google+
Everyone and their brother has been begging on Facebook and Twitter to get an invite into another social network. This time it’s Google’s latest offering…Google+
Our own Elena Perel is one of those cool west coasters on the inside, so she snagged us some invites early. While there’s been plenty of blogs both praising and slamming the site. It’s still really early to tell how it will pan out and be used. But for now, here’s our quick n’ dirty thoughts.
Elena:
A really cool feature in Google+ is the “Hangout” feature. The “Hangout” feature is a group chat with up to 10 people
One thing that Google+ should focus on in the future is including a similar feature as “Pages” for brands that want to get on Google+. This could help Google+ monetize their business model in the future as well as have businesses a vested interest in the platform’s success.
My overall impression of the platform is that it’s easy to use, different enough from Facebook to offer value, and an exciting new direction for Google. Now we just need to get more people on it!
Nick:
I love circles. Being able to quickly filter my streams is something I think will be very useful in the future. If only this was on Facebook from the start!
Agreeing with Elena, Google+ should roll out their brand platform soon. While other social networks have brought in advertising after the user base is set out, maybe Google could roll it out early and build a platform where it’s more natural for brands and people to communicate.
I could use a little design upgrade. I’m not really in love with the way things are designed right now for the Google+ News Feed, however I love the new dark Google Nav bar, and that they’ve added +Me and notifications in the top right corner that carry while I’m in Gmail.
This site has attracted the usual influencer crowd, and by now many social media “power users” have joined. Google+ seems to be gaining a lot of traction, and the economic impact is starting to take shape. TechCrunch has reported that investors added $20 billion to Google’s market cap the first week after the launch on June 28.
What do you think about Google’s latest offering into the social media space? If you’re on Google+ what are you doing on it? We’d love to hear.
