Google+

I've been on Google+ for a few weeks now. It's another "social network" like Facebook, Mixi, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on; a place to connect with people and follow them. It's still invitation only (though see below) but it's surprisingly useful already; there's plenty of interesting people¹, and some friends and acquaintances of mine are already active there as well.

You add people to follow them. Unlike Facebook, but like Twitter, you can add somebody to see what they're saying without them having to add you back. Many of our relationships are not symmetrical, and G+ recognizes that.

Unlike Twitter you're not limited to 140 characters of text. Your posts can be as long as you want (though it tends to favour shorter posts), and you can add links, pictures and video right in your posts. And people can comment directly in each post so the conversation becomes much easier to follow.

And G+ is different from both Facebook and Twitter in that you're in control. You can easily, naturally decide who can see what you write, and you decide whose posts you want to see in turn. Your friends won't see work-related posts, and your boss won't see any embarrassing party pictures or posts about your vacation. And nobody can spam you with posts you don't want to see.

Circle

G+ does this with circles. You add people to one or more circles, or groups of people. You can have as many or as few circles as you want — you can have just a single circle with everybody in it if you don't want to bother. People know if you add them, but they don't know to what circles. You could put them in "Best Friends Forever!!!" or in "Crushing Bores" and they'll have no idea.

You choose what circles can see each post. I have a circle for my Swedish-speaking contacts , for instance, where I can post in Swedish without bothering anyone who can't understand it. I have another circle for Japanese, a circle for other scientists and so on. You could have a circle for co-workers to post internal work matters in private, a circle for family members or whatever. You can easily put people in more than one circle — my brother is in both my Family circle and Swedish circle for instance.

These circles also determine whose posts you see. Your stream of updates will only show posts from people that you have added. Nobody can add you to one of their circles to spam you with messages you don't want. If somebody adds you it just means you could see their posts. You won't actually see them unless you add them in turn.

You can choose to post "Public" instead of to particular circles. Anybody who has added you will see those posts, and they will also show up on your front page. If you go to my page and you aren't a member, or I haven't added you, then what you see are my public posts. It's like a blog post or a Twitter update. On the other hand you can post to just a single person; that would be much like a private email.

 

Circle

There's group chat and there's a nifty-looking group video phone which I haven't really tried as I have neither webcam nor headset — though my brother did show me my new niece through his webcam so I know it works. It seems to be really useful for quick meetings or family calls. There are no "brand" or company pages yet — not a bad thing — and no advertising. That will no doubt change eventually. Games have recently been added, but mercifully they've kept on a separate page so you won't see any posts at all about them unless you choose to go there.


Google has decided to disallow openly pseudonymous accounts. This is a serious mistake, I think; there's several important, ethical reasons² not to use your off-line name in online forums. They allow celebrities to use pseudonyms rather than real names ("Lady Gaga" is there, not "Stephanie Germanotta"), and real-sounding names go unchallenged unless someone reports them. I hope they'll see sense and revisit and change this at some point, perhaps once they allow brand names and company accounts.


It looks good so far. It's still partially unfinished, there's some rough spots, and the misguided "real name" policy is a cause for worry. But if they manage to steer clear of any major mistakes this looks like a real winner. If you want an account, all you need to do is to follow this link: Google+ invitation.

 

#1 With Linus Torvalds on one hand and Paris Hilton on the other, you're spanning a fair chunk of the industrialized world already.

#2 A couple of examples:

- You're a woman harassed by an abusive ex-husband, and want to participate online without him finding you.

- You have a position of some authority — a teacher, say — and want to participate in political or religious discussions without people accusing you of being partisan and trying to push your beliefs onto your students.

- You work with animal experiments or in an abortion clinic — or working against animal experimentation or abortion; you volunteer to help illegal immigrants; or any other sensitive or controversial field that you want to discuss but you don't want potentially unhinged people to easily find your family or friends.

- You are part of a despised minority or you've had a particular (perhaps psychiatric) disease, and you want to discuss this with others without potential employers or your family finding out about it.

- You simply want to hide your gender or your ethnic background in order to avoid the sleazeballs and racists that always crop up wherever you go online. Note that Google allows you to hide your gender in your profile page, but still require your real name, making it pretty pointless.

So, Google...

I know I've been very busy the past few weeks, but now I've decompressed a bit and I can't help but notice that you have announced a new toy. A toy that seems to make an almost indecently positive impression on those who try it.

I like you, Google; I use you for search, for much of my email, for my homepage (such as it is), my blog, maps and RSS reader, and I happily use your phone OS. Your browser looks good but lacks some important extensions I use, and your online photo site isn't really a match for your competition, but mostly you do some very, very good stuff.

I don't entirely trust you of course - nobody should trust any corporate entity, and online services are subject to political and legal whims of several countries, so I'm a bit careful about what data I give you. But overall I am very happy with your services, and you do come across as rather more trustworthy and open than some other companies on the web.

I'm not idle by any means - I'm editing a paper, I need to figure out some parameter relations for a model, and I really should start job hunting again - but I do have bits of free time now. Free time that I would be happy to spend trying out this new toy of yours, if you would only let me.

Unfortunately, you're in limited trial and you aren't going to let the unwashed masses in just yet (no, I'm not going to wash for you; I like you, Google, but we're not that close). You want to hammer out bugs and stuff so people get a good first impression, I understand that. Still, it's incredibly frustrating. Like going to a favourite restaurant for dinner, only to find out it's packed with people already. You want to go there, the restaurant wants you there, but it's just not going to happen that particular night.

So, Google, I understand most of us can't get to play just yet. It's OK, I'll wait. Just don't take too long; a restaurant that's always full is a restaurant you eventually give up on, favourite or not. I'd hate to see a good idea fail due to loss of interest and momentum before it even gets off the ground.