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Google+ |OT| A New Social Network

S

Sean

Banned
Google+ Won’t Let 3rd-Party Apps Post Because “Your Stream Could Easily Be Overwhelmed”

Today at his SXSW fireside chat, head of Google+ Vic Gundotra said “I am 100% to blame” for the social network lacking an API seven months after launch. The reason? “Your stream could easily be overwhelmed” if Google allowed third-party apps to post content on users’ behalf.

Additionally, Gundotra criticized Facebook’s inclusion of ads on photo albums and said that only a “very small number of people have turned off social search”.

Gundotra made no guarantee a third-party posting API would be made available by the end of 2012, “I just don’t want to do it because I’ve seen other [platforms] open APIs, develop an ecosystem of third-party clients, and then shut down the API. I’m going to release that API when I’m confident we’re not going to screw over developers.”

The problem with allowing third-party apps to contribute content is that “if ranking is not good in the stream”, single apps could publish too many posts and push out authentic content from the people you follow. Gundotra said that “When Google opens an API, we want you to know we’re not going to revoke access.” Moderator Guy Kawasaki quipped that developers are used to rapidly changing APIs from Facebook, but Gundotra snapped back, “We hold ourselves to a higher standard”.

In this case, Google’s late start on social is holding it back. Facebook has had years to refine its EdgeRank algorithm for sorting the news feed and minimizing the impact of noisy friends and apps. Without such data on who and what its users are interested in, Google+ doesn’t know what to promote and hide

The senior VP of engineering seemed confused, saying “We get these messages that we’re a ghost town” but developers are still eager for access. Well guess what? If users could cross-publish posts to Google+ the way that apps like Path allow syndication to Facebook and Twitter, maybe the network wouldn’t feel so dead. Overwhelmed might be better than underwhelmed
Click to expand...

So stupid.
 
T

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
I think it's a smart move, and there really isn't a huge need for such clients right now. I use TweetDeck but I haven't really felt that it was lacking Google+ support even though I'm a heavy G+ user.

I do hope they announce an API at I/O though. Even still, I'm glad they're trying to do it right then rushing it out and having tons of dev backlash like Facebook has.
 
R

radioheadrule83

Banned
I'm developing a site at the moment that I'm looking at plugging a few OAUTH compliant platforms into, and I'd like people to be able to advertise my site using services like G+, so to some extent the wait is frustrating - but I can understand what he's saying there. There is so much shit I just filter out on the facebook feed... apps I've blocked etc.

I can still connect to Google and pull contacts, and pull stuff from Facebook and Yahoo etc - so I'm not too fussed. The sooner they can do it the better though imo.
 
Z

zoku88

Member
Andrex said:
I think it's a smart move, and there really isn't a huge need for such clients right now. I use TweetDeck but I haven't really felt that it was lacking Google+ support even though I'm a heavy G+ user.

I do hope they announce an API at I/O though. Even still, I'm glad they're trying to do it right then rushing it out and having tons of dev backlash like Facebook has.
Click to expand...

I think there should be clients. Recently, I've found Google's sites to be somewhat sluggish (just G+ and Reader, actually.) I would find it much more pleasurable if I had some other client to use (or, I guess, if they made those sites faster.)
 
K

kehs

Banned
Looks like they are finally getting rid of that stupid multi colored "+1" icon, it's not a just gray with red insert.
 
K

kehs

Banned
Andrex said:
Yeah I've had it for a few days. Warming up to it.
Click to expand...

That better not be a pun.
LLShC.gif
 
L

luxarific

Nork unification denier
Have they fixed the "can't share a single photo via e-mail link" problem with Google+? Really drives me nuts that we can only send links to albums via e-mail, and not links to single photos. I miss Picasa Web Albums so much. :(
 
E

eznark

Banned
I have it now. Interesting. Been meaning to try and get back into it. Huh, can you no longer access your Reader feed from Google+?
 
S

SimleuqiR

Member
Theoris said:
Google+ receives an interface overhaul, rolls out within the next few days:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3Atj57r15U
http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/201...ul-google.html

Beautiful interface as ever from Google, now I just need regular posters for friends!
Click to expand...

BIG! I like it! Already have it on my account!

Edit:

Hate that on a widescreen monitor there is soooo much white space between the stream column and Google Talk. No fucking way of centering in the stream. It's all justified to the left. >_>

Edit2:

Photos - much quicker!!!

Circles - Much more space - it's easier to see and move things around!

Edit3:

I think this layout might be way more tablet friendly. I have not tested it yet, but just looking at it, it seems finger friendly.
 
V

Vic

Please help me with my bad english
Theoris said:
Google+ receives an interface overhaul, rolls out within the next few days:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3Atj57r15U
http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/toward-simpler-more-beautiful-google.html

Beautiful interface as ever from Google, now I just need regular posters for friends!
Click to expand...
Got it. Looks beautiful but there's a huge wasted space in the right.

SimleuqiR said:
Edit3:

I think this layout might be way more tablet friendly. I have not tested it yet, but just looking at it, it seems finger friendly.
Click to expand...
That's pretty much my first impression when I saw the screenshots of the new interface.

The photo interface is way better than the previous one indeed.
 
C

ComputerMKII

Banned
Theoris said:
Google+ receives an interface overhaul, rolls out within the next few days:

Beautiful interface as ever from Google, now I just need regular posters for friends!
Click to expand...
That must be good for the 8 people who use Google+.

I have an account but I haven't touched it in months. I don't even know what to do with it.
 
D

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
Is Google Chat on the G+ page more like the chat on the Gmail page? On Gmail chat shows user pictures, and shows youtube videos within the chat window. On + chat is pretty basic.
 
T

Tuck

Member
The new interface looks nice. I just hope they made the chat function more usable.

I wish they'd make it Google-Wave esque, but that probably won't happen. At this point though its confusing and barely usable.

Its too hard to tell who actually has Google + and who you're just sending a request to their email.
 
R

radioheadrule83

Banned
SimleuqiR said:
LOL. This is what I mean:

Biggest issue for me.

Sorry for the HUGE image, but it gets the message across... literally.
Click to expand...

I haven't moved over to the new look yet, it might be a mistake. What browser are you on?

Easily fixable through CSS plugins like EditCSS (firefox) or Stylebot (chrome) in the meantime
 
S

SimleuqiR

Member
radioheadrule83 said:
I haven't moved over to the new look yet, it might be a mistake. What browser are you on?

Easily fixable through CSS plugins like EditCSS (firefox) or Stylebot (chrome) in the meantime
Click to expand...

I'm using Chrome. Photos and Circles uses the entire monitor's space.
Home and Profile have that huge unused white space. Hopefully they'll fix it.
 
K

Kabuki Quantum Lover

Member
I have (well had) two friends on there. Followed a whole bunch of people...

...yeah, disabled the G+ part months ago. I'm not sure what sprucing up a ghost town will do. Looks nice, though.
 
T

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
I was actually JUST thinking this morning while viewing my own FB profile how great it would be if G+ had cover photos. I mean, yeah it's a blatant ripoff, but I really love it.

The rest of the new interface is the complete opposite of Facebook's. Clean, streamlined, mostly easier to use. (I have to imagine that whitespace issue will be fixed soon.) Overall a tremendous new interface. It feels like the content finally has a chance to breathe, whereas before (and on Facebook) it feels suffocated.
 
K

Kosmo

Banned
kinggroin said:
And not a single one a friend or family member of mine.

*sigh
Click to expand...

Same. And I know every one of my friends is hopelessly trapped on Facebook. At the same time, it might be a good time to make a clean break from Facebook and say "If you want to know what I'm up to, here's my G+ link"
 
T

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
The Friendly Monster said:
It looks fantastic, I really hope they can get more people engaged in using it. Hangouts are the killer app at the moment.
Click to expand...

I would say Hangouts and Instant Upload are, but the latter is really only useful to those who also use the Android app (and maybe 4.0 too, I think.) But seriously if you're taking pics on your Android phone, IU is one of the biggest timesavers in recent memory.
 
A

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
iPhone version of G+ has Instant Upload now as well. Been acting up a bit for me the past couple days but it's there.
 
T

The Friendly Monster

Member
Andrex said:
I would say Hangouts and Instant Upload are, but the latter is really only useful to those who also use the Android app (and maybe 4.0 too, I think.) But seriously if you're taking pics on your Android phone, IU is one of the biggest timesavers in recent memory.
Click to expand...
It's awesome, and not ICS exclusive, but my phone camera is terrible (Nexus One). If I could buy a Canon point and shoot with instant upload I would be a happy happy man. It's a pretty sad state of affairs but I absolutely hate transferring photos.

Hangouts are just fantastic for chatting between me and my parents and my sister in 3 different cities.
 
S

SimleuqiR

Member
Kabuki Quantum Lover said:
I have (well had) two friends on there. Followed a whole bunch of people...

...yeah, disabled the G+ part months ago. I'm not sure what sprucing up a ghost town will do. Looks nice, though.
Click to expand...

That's like joining Twitter and then stop using it because none of your family and/or friends has an account.

Granted it would be great if more family and friends would use it or join, but I have use Google+ to mostly replace my Twitter "following" habits. I would say about 90% of the pages and people I fallow on Twitter (that are not part of family & friends) are in my circles now.
 
T

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
AstroLad said:
iPhone version of G+ has Instant Upload now as well. Been acting up a bit for me the past couple days but it's there.
Click to expand...

Good to know.

It was a lifesaver during PAX. Took pics all day, came home exhausted. But my pics were already there. Just had to put in some captions I remembered I wanted to add, and hit publish. Boom. The auto-tagging isn't really too accurate yet but it also helps in making things more efficient. Plus when I wanted to post a pic of Guild Wars 2 beta codes but not actually the codes themselves I just hit "edit photo" and blurred it out, right there on the site.

The Google+ photo experience has not been matched, in my opinion.
 
Z

zoku88

Member
SimleuqiR said:
I'm using Chrome. Photos and Circles uses the entire monitor's space.
Home and Profile have that huge unused white space. Hopefully they'll fix it.
Click to expand...

I see what you mean. That should have made Home fill out the whole width after you get down under the "On the Go?" section.
 
S

SimleuqiR

Member
duderon said:
The white space is going to be used for something, apparently.
Click to expand...
gcubed said:
they should get on that then.. .
Click to expand...

Ads up the yin yang! :-/

Andrex said:
"Vic Gundotra, Google Senior VP, says that there are 170 million Google+ users, up from 90 million users 2 months ago. That's a really impressive achievement."

Suck it haters. ^_^
Click to expand...

These numbers seem more realistic.

http://mashable.com/2012/04/11/google-plus-number-three/
So, does that mean that Google+ is now the number three social network?

Not necessarily. If you go by active monthly users in the U.S., particularly those reported by third parties, it appears that Google+ is well behind LinkedIn and neck-and-neck with Tumblr. If, however, you are measuring by monthly visits — again, in the U.S. — then Google+ is number six.
Click to expand...
 
X

xptoxyz

Member
SimleuqiR said:
These numbers seem more realistic.


http://mashable.com/2012/04/11/googl...-number-three/
So, does that mean that Google+ is now the number three social network?

Not necessarily. If you go by active monthly users in the U.S., particularly those reported by third parties, it appears that Google+ is well behind LinkedIn and neck-and-neck with Tumblr. If, however, you are measuring by monthly visits — again, in the U.S. — then Google+ is number six.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

This could make all the difference though.
 
L

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
Yeah, G+ is a complete and utter ghost town for me. It's a miracle if I see one post a month from any of the friends, and those posts have started to be of the "G+ echo, lol" kind. New interface looks nice, but the existing one is pretty nice too :\ I just think Facebook has overwhelming critical mass, and is not doing anything wrong to get people away from it.
 
K

Kabuki Quantum Lover

Member
SimleuqiR said:
That's like joining Twitter and then stop using it because none of your family and/or friends has an account.

Granted it would be great if more family and friends would use it or join, but I have use Google+ to mostly replace my Twitter "following" habits. I would say about 90% of the pages and people I fallow on Twitter (that are not part of family & friends) are in my circles now.
Click to expand...

Ehh... I see where you're coming from, but to use G+ as a duplicate Twitter feed isn't really giving me more than what I get from Twitter now. Plus, it's a social network -- if I don't have a network of contacts to socialize with, then what's the purpose? Again, this is only my case.
 
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