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[Kosmo]

I think a very real difference here is that Google+ can be seamlessly and without embarrassment be used for business. Right now, you pretty much have to create a separate business/professional facebook page because most clients/co-workers don't want to know your views on Lady Gaga and Murderer Mom.

Google+ allows you to seamlessly integrate your personal and professional life into a single social network which 1. reduces the hassle and 2. means I no longer have to tell clients I can't be their social network friend (a real hassle in my line of work). It's also a great collaboration tool for small businesses that maybe don't have the huge budget for a Cisco infrastructure.

I'm super impressed so far.

Same here. I just hope they never go the route of allowing crap like Mafia Wars to permeate - that would be a disaster.

It seems like social networking done right - it can be as much or as little as you want, but the most important thing is easy control of privacy. Bigger "names" like the Kevin Rose's of the world can use it as a blog/media tool and at the same time use it for intimate conversations with small circles of friends. The most important thing is the circles are separate instead of one long barf list like Facebook.

 

[mclaren777]

This might not be the best place to ask, but after the Gmail layout change goes into effect, will we be able to revert to the old look by selecting the classic theme?

 

[LyleLanley]

Same here. I just hope they never go the route of allowing crap like Mafia Wars to permeate - that would be a disaster.

It seems like social networking done right - it can be as much or as little as you want, but the most important thing is easy control of privacy. Bigger "names" like the Kevin Rose's of the world can use it as a blog/media tool and at the same time use it for intimate conversations with small circles of friends. The most important thing is the circles are separate instead of one long barf list like Facebook.

In the event that they do allow Mafia Wars and Farmville, I hope they'd be smart enough to let you block out all that crap.

 

[Gary Whitta]

It seems like social networking done right - it can be as much or as little as you want, but the most important thing is easy control of privacy. Bigger "names" like the Kevin Rose's of the world can use it as a blog/media tool and at the same time use it for intimate conversations with small circles of friends. The most important thing is the circles are separate instead of one long barf list like Facebook.

This will be the key to its success. It takes the best of Twitter and Facebook and combines them in a way that works.

 

[eznark]

This will be the key to its success. It takes the best of Twitter and Facebook and combines them in a way that works.

Beyond that, it also offers compelling tools for small businesses. I am sure that this point will mostly get overlooked by the tech blogosphere but I really think it will be a cornerstone to success. People can have all their friends in one place without worrying (as much) about making an ass of themselves in front of their boss online.

I can already see excellent ways in which some of my clients will be able to use hangouts to improve productivity (though I haven't actually tried them so I have no idea if it works as advertised).

It really makes me wonder what the hell they were thinking with Buzz though. + is so full featured and well thought out, why hurt their social media brand by putting out a Twitter clone with this in the pipeline?

 

[LyleLanley]

Beyond that, it also offers compelling tools for small businesses. I am sure that this point will mostly get overlooked by the tech blogosphere but I really think it will be a cornerstone to success. People can have all their friends in one place without worrying (as much) about making an ass of themselves in front of their boss online.

I can already see excellent ways in which some of my clients will be able to use hangouts to improve productivity (though I haven't actually tried them so I have no idea if it works as advertised).

It really makes me wonder what the hell they were thinking with Buzz though. + is so full featured and well thought out, why hurt their social media brand by putting out a Twitter clone with this in the pipeline?

I think it could be a wonderful tool for small business, being able to cross-platform video chat with up to 10 people without having to pay Skype could and should be huge.

 

[Gary Whitta]

Beyond that, it also offers compelling tools for small businesses. I am sure that this point will mostly get overlooked by the tech blogosphere but I really think it will be a cornerstone to success. People can have all their friends in one place without worrying (as much) about making an ass of themselves in front of their boss online.

Until the day (inevitably) comes when a social marketing exec accidentally does the Google+ equivalent of "Reply All" and sends a private circle message to the +Public

 

[tycoonheart]

Until the day (inevitably) comes when a social marketing exec accidentally does the Google+ equivalent of "Reply All" and sends a private circle message to the +Public

No differently than accidentally forwarding an email to a group of people you didn't mean to, which has happened at my work many times.

 

[Gary Whitta]

No differently than accidentally forwarding an email to a group of people you didn't mean to, which has happened at my work many times.

That's what I meant by "Reply All".

 

[tycoonheart]

That's what I meant by "Reply All".

LOL ya, sorry I realized that after I reread what you wrote.

 

[eznark]

Until the day (inevitably) comes when a social marketing exec accidentally does the Google+ equivalent of "Reply All" and sends a private circle message to the +Public

Right (that's why I hedged a bit) but at least this avoids the problem of needed a different page for different functions. I'm convinced the circles are a brilliantly simple way of removing most of the shitty parts of Facebook. Pictures can be shared selectively, commentary doesn't need to go out to everyone and you can change your privacy with every post. It's genius.

I'm not terribly worried about the Zynga type shit mostly because Google doesn't need this to be a huge profit generator. They want the stream. They want to know what people are talking about so that the margins can appropriately advertise to you. Bang. More profitable than Farmville.

 

[VeryGooster]

A friend managed to hook me up with an invitation. He says it takes a long time to go through?

 

[Gary Whitta]

#1 thing Google+ can do in my opinion to get people over from Facebook is to keep all the Zynga shit and other spam apps off there. Many people like those games but many others want a nice clean social stream without all that bullshit cluttering it up.

 

[LyleLanley]

A friend managed to hook me up with an invitation. He says it takes a long time to go through?

If you know he sent it to you, try logging on to google.com/plus and see if it works. I never got my email but it still worked.

#1 thing Google+ can do in my opinion to get people over from Facebook is to keep all the Zynga shit and other spam apps off there. Many people like those games but many others want a nice clean social stream without all that bullshit cluttering it up.

Yeah, I can see it being like myspace when people got fed up of all the superfluous crap on there and moved to facebook.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Is there any way to sort the photo order in photo albums?

Anyone?

 

[tycoonheart]

I had never liked the idea of the wall on Facebook. Especially when people post in-house jokes that no one other than a few select people even understand it. Whats the point of making a post like that public so that the person's entire friend list gets to see but has no idea what it is about? I saw shit like that posted on my girlfriend's FB wall all the time - "OMG we totally had a fun time yesterday, lets do it again!!!" Isn't shit like that better to be sent as a text or even a one-on-one post/PM?

 

[snacknuts]

I had never liked the idea of the wall on Facebook. Especially when people post in-house jokes that no one other than a few select people even understand it. Whats the point of making a post like that public so that the person's entire friend list gets to see but has no idea what it is about? I saw shit like that posted on my girlfriend's FB wall all the time - "OMG we totally had a fun time yesterday, lets do it again!!!" Isn't shit like that better to be sent as a text or even a one-on-one post/PM?

I'm with you on this. For a long time, I just had my wall disabled on my Facebook account. If someone wants to leave a message for me, they can send me a message. Not everything has to be public.

 

[Jamesfrom818]

Thank you Tom from Myspace for the new avatar.

 

[Simon Belmont]

#1 thing Google+ can do in my opinion to get people over from Facebook is to keep all the Zynga shit and other spam apps off there. Many people like those games but many others want a nice clean social stream without all that bullshit cluttering it up.

I think the biggest issue they're going to have is photos. I know my wife will be reluctant to change because facebook has become our de facto photo album. If they can create some kind of tool that will migrate all of your pictures from Google+ to facebook they stand a much better shot of pulling people away.

 

[kittens]

Honestly, all the games and dumb apps on Facebook haven't been an issue to me for well over a year. It took some time and many clicks, but I finally blocked all the crappy little apps that were cluttering my feed. If G+ had an opt out option, that'd be even better.

 

[Jamesfrom818]

I think the biggest issue they're going to have is photos. I know my wife will be reluctant to change because facebook has become our de facto photo album. If they can create some kind of tool that will migrate all of your pictures from Google+ to facebook they stand a much better shot of pulling people away.

Facebook won't even let people export their contacts info to G+. I doubt they'd allow the export of pictures and video.

 

[SimleuqiR]

Until the day (inevitably) comes when a social marketing exec accidentally does the Google+ equivalent of "Reply All" and sends a private circle message to the +Public

No differently than accidentally forwarding an email to a group of people you didn't mean to, which has happened at my work many times.

This is a great time to set up 2-step verification! Because now your gmail account is linked to Google+. You don't want grandma to get a nice "stream" of pr0n.

 

[Gary Whitta]

I've heard that people are using tools to export their photos, I don't know what or how though.

In the end I don't think it will matter, sunk cost may be enough to keep some people using an inferior service but for MANY it will not be. I'm not particularly attached to the photos I have on Facebook, most if not all are also on Flickr and stored locally. Plus the quality of photos on Facebook is shit, Google+ does a much better job.

 

[Simon Belmont]

Facebook won't even let people export their contacts info to G+. I doubt they'd allow the export of pictures and video.

I know it's special pleading, but I just hope somebody figures out a way around that.

 

[VanMardigan]

When is the next wave of invites? I wanna try this out dammit.

 

[Battersea Power Station]

Facebook won't even let people export their contacts info to G+. I doubt they'd allow the export of pictures and video.

Can't you go here:

https://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php

Download your Information, 2nd from the bottom? I don't have albums up so I can't test it.

 

[Gary Whitta]

When is the next wave of invites? I wanna try this out dammit.

Just keep hitting plus.google.com until you get lucky.

 

[astroturfing]

got an invite for this, is it worth checking out even if i don't care about social networking? is this something REALLY good, revolutionary perhaps?

 

[Monkeylord]

Can't you go here:

https://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php

Download your Information, 2nd from the bottom? I don't have albums up so I can't test it.

This is what I did. Took between 30 and 40mins for FB to email me the download link. Then you download a zip with everything in it, posts, photos, the whole shebang. Photos were organised into folders according to album which made it easy to just drag and drop into G+

Had a lot of photo's spread over 2 albums as the limit was 175 pics per album (I think). G+ took the lot with no effort. Not sure what the limit was, but it's above 350 per album.


Also, you just download copies, so all your info is still on FB until you deactivate/delete your FB account.

 

[Gary Whitta]

got an invite for this, is it worth checking out even if i don't care about social networking? is this something REALLY good, revolutionary perhaps?

It's a social network, so if you don't care about social networking don't bother.

 

[Bboy AJ]

I wish there were a way for you to post something any make it such that only people from Circle A can see comments by Circle A, and the other Circles can only see comments from their own Circle. They can't see Circle A's comments. I hope I'm making myself clear.

got an invite for this, is it worth checking out even if i don't care about social networking? is this something REALLY good, revolutionary perhaps?

Read the OP.

 

[sixteen-bit]

#1 thing Google+ can do in my opinion to get people over from Facebook is to keep all the Zynga shit and other spam apps off there. Many people like those games but many others want a nice clean social stream without all that bullshit cluttering it up.

True that.

 

[Simon Belmont]

This is what I did. Took between 30 and 40mins for FB to email me the download link. Then you download a zip with everything in it, posts, photos, the whole shebang. Photos were organised into folders according to album which made it easy to just drag and drop into G+

Had a lot of photo's spread over 2 albums as the limit was 175 pics per album (I think). G+ took the lot with no effort. Not sure what the limit was, but it's above 350 per album.


Also, you just download copies, so all your info is still on FB until you deactivate/delete your FB account.

That's good to hear. Thanks for the info!

 

[Battersea Power Station]

Some tips and hacks:

* Add search engines to your browser to search Google Profiles and G+ posts (public, not the ones in your stream, unfortunately)

* Make a Circle called Bookmarks and share posts, articles, and pages you want to read, follow, and view with that Circle. That way, you can click o Bookmarks in your Stream and have a steady supply of hopefully interesting stuff. (credit) Someone pointed out this wouldn't be needed if Google just lets you see your +1s (right now you can see your +1s of web searches, but not the G+ ones).

 

[LyleLanley]

"You +1'd this" sounds weird.

 

[VeryGooster]

Q: What are circles, and how do they work!?
A: They are filters (or groups) that you make exclusively for the content that you receive. That means that if you add someone to your 'Friends' circle and send a some content to that group, only the people that are inside that group will receive it. Even if that person has you in another circle or doesn't even have you added (in which case they will receive that content on their "Incoming" section).

Still not in yet, but reading the OP, I actually like this. ^

 

[WickedAngel]

It's a long-form of Twitter with more privacy options and a profile.

Which leaves it in a weird position in the social networking world. I don't think it competes with Facebook at all for what Facebook's purpose is, and it's messier than Twitter for what Twitter's purpose is.

Why are you still here? You sure do post often about Google+ for someone who has no real interest in using Google+.

 

[wind_steaker]

I have no problem with G+ allowing games etc on as long as they are as smart about it as they have been with everything else so far. AKA : make it opt-in so no one has to see that rubbish unless they decide it's for them.

 

[Leatherface]

Anyone?

I may have found something. I hope it works, but I haven't tried this yet:

How To Move Your Facebook Photos To Picasa (Soon, Google Photos) In A Flash

 

[eznark]

Facebook won't even let people export their contacts info to G+. I doubt they'd allow the export of pictures and video.

http://lifehacker.com/5818743/move2...hotos-to-google-plus-aka-picasa-google-photos

Web service Move2Picasa migrates all your photos from Facebook to Google Plus. Just visit the site, log in with Facebook, and let it do its work. Google Plus uses Google's Picasa Web Albums (soon to

 

[sixteen-bit]

I may have found something. I hope it works, but I haven't tried this yet:

How To Move Your Facebook Photos To Picasa (Soon, Google Photos) In A Flash

I was thinking more along the lines of albums I've already uploaded to G+

 

[kehs]

I was thinking more along the lines of albums I've already uploaded to G+

Do it through picasaweb, it respects ordering.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

This isn't really G+ related, but I found it while on G+.

http://www.beatlab.com/?ref=cws

Dude, webapps are crazy these days. I spent like 20 minutes making a completely serviceable beat last night. It wasn't anything someone would pay for, but I bet you there are some people out there that would think it was perfectly suitable to get down to.

And I made it in a webbrowser ..only bullshit is you can't save if you don't have a FB account. :[

 

[Squall ASF]

So do you actually need an invite? Or can you just set your profile up if you have impeccable timing when the window next opens? Is the point of invites just to get alerted when you should bother trying to get in?

 

[Bboy AJ]

Do the Android app users have a G+ widget? One of my friends says he has it but I don't have one.

"It's just a 1x4 that has a link to g+, a spot to share, a link to your camera app, and a link to your photos on g+.

It's listed as Google+ in my widgets. Also, I'm running version 1.0.1 of Google+ on a Thunderbolt"

 

[bengraven]

Can't get Google+ to load for some reason. Just a white page. Hm.

 

[Orbis Tabula]

I've been in the habit of taking every 'friend request' (I dunno what to call them) from someone I don't know, and throwing them in the Gaf circle. I'm starting to think my Gaf Circle is getting polluted with non-Gaffers.

 

[kehs]

Do the Android app users have a G+ widget? One of my friends says he has it but I don't have one.

"It's just a 1x4 that has a link to g+, a spot to share, a link to your camera app, and a link to your photos on g+.

It's listed as Google+ in my widgets. Also, I'm running version 1.0.1 of Google+ on a Thunderbolt"

It's basically the buzz widget provisioned for plus.

 

[Bboy AJ]

It's basically the buzz widget provisioned for plus.

Do you have one? Why don't I? Very strange. My version is 1.0.2.

 

[kehs]

Do you have one? Why don't I? Very strange. My version is 1.0.2.

Yup, version 1.0.2.