The
first big keynote talk of the Expo was
Guy Kawasaki and
Chris Brogan describing how they used Google+ and comparing it to Facebook. In short, they both love Google+. They're of the opinion that it will be bigger than Facebook. Yes, Facebook has all the people now, but Google+ has Google behind it and in the end, that's going to be a big deal. Major points from their talk:
- Facebook is for friends and family, Google+ is for people who share your passions. It's more community-centered.
- A good way to use Google+ is to search it for keywords related to your hobbies and passions. That will reveal plenty of others in your field.
- Surprisingly, Guy Kawasaki does not use circles in Google+. Circles are what allow you to group your connections into subsets based on topic or location or whatever you want. With the people that I know, it is the primary reason to move to Google+, but he doesn't use it at all. Instead, he uses it in one, giant stream.
- Guy said the technology was going to be used in unanticipated ways. For example, there was recently a Google Hangout where a group got together to cook online. That's an interesting idea.
- Social networking in general allows you to get to know people before you get down to business. (That's been said many, many times before.)
- Guy and Chris hated avatars. They think you ought to have a photo of yourself and not something wacky. Like a cat.
Both Guy and Chris are atypical users. Most of the audience probably couldn't relate to them - I know I struggled with that. As soon as they got on Google+, I'm sure they immediately picked up 10-30,000 followers. I'm on Google+ and I'm not sure of the value of the thing, but after this talk I'm going to spend some time searching for folks with my interests and seeing where that leads.
Guy Kawasaki and Chris Brogan.
I haven't used Google+, but my main impression of Facebook is that it might be fine for idly noodling around in, saying "hi" to acquaintances and maybe playing a few simple games, but that's about it. As an actual tool for communication, it stinks. Following up on a particular person who hasn't posted lately, or re-finding the cool thing that somebody mentioned three days ago, is way more difficult than it ought to be.
ReplyDeleteAs long as Google+ includes the idea that anything worth saying, is also worth being findable again more than a few hours later, then I think it will beat Facebook all hollow.
Oh, and, speaking of "Wacky avatars, like a cat";
ReplyDeleteyou may find this . . . peculiar
That was wild! I loved it.
ReplyDeleteAs for Facebook, I like it. It allows me to keep in touch with old friends without having to do it individually. It's a one-to-many communications method that doesn't feel like one of those form letters you sometime get in Christmas cards.
ReplyDelete