Benefits of Google Plus
I’ve not been using Google Plus for long, only a week and already I can see some benefits to using this over using Facebook. Only problem is I don’t have hardly any friends using it and to be honest I haven’t invited any yet lol! So for now I’ll still be using Facebook at least until all my friends/family/acquaintances have moved over.
There is so much news and media coverage about Google plus and even the likes of TechCrunch and other tech blogs are doing analysis on how well Google will do compared to the other big social sites, i.e. Facebook and Twitter. Most people don’t mention Myspace that much any more, whether this will still be the case in the next 6 months or so who knows. With the recent investors Justin Timberlake Group, maybe he will turn this into more of a celebrity sharing social network and be an exclusive hangout place.
What I like about Google Plus is I don’t have to login to Facebook. I can see my any new notifications from any other Google app I’m using such as Gmail, Google Reader, Google Docs, and also whilst logged into Google while using any other Google app or their web search. It combines a mixture of the good stuff about both Facebook and Twitter.
There is a lot of stuff that is similar and maybe even copied the ideas from the other social networks. For instance in Facebook you would Like someones status, In Google you will +1 it. Maybe someone needs to create a hand icon for a hive five! Also I still think they need to have a dislike option too.
Google have also taken the Twitter idea to follow people, so not only will you be able to have your mates in your friends groups, you may also want to follow your idol such as Lady Gaga !?!?! Why her I don’t know. She sings well but that’s about it.
Google Circles
The other thing I like is that you can assign your followers to different groups, such as Friends, Family, Acquaintances. This is great if you wanted to post a picture but you didn’t want your Grandma to see your latest antics and no my Grandma isn’t on any social network, just an example. But another example is maybe you want to share some information with a group of friends and you don’t necessarily want your work colleagues to see this information.
Google named this Circles. You can share a message to a Circle of people and only them if you wish.
Google Hangouts
Another benefit of Google Plus is Google Hangouts. You can have a video call with up to 10 people, where as Facebook only recently added this feature and its limited to a video call with 1 person at the moment. You can also view YouTube videos while on the call with your friends.
Google Sparks
Google Sparks is another cool feature, which allows you to catch up with information that you have an interest in. Simple add a keyword spark and then you can keep up to date with all things shared about that keyword. I used SEO as I have a keen interest in this. I’m not sure yet whether this information comes from the Google results or from information that is shared on the Google Plus portal only. You can already see the likes of SEOMOZ blog posts shared in Sparks.
Google +1
Google also have the power of their Search engine. Holding a majority share of the visitors throughout the world. 92% last count according to hitwise. You may have noticed next to each search result you can +1 a site. Clicking +1 will automatically share this site with your followers for them to comment on and vote on. This could be a viral way of Google gaining lots of people to use it.
Google may even use some of the sharing information from Google Plus and +1 for a way they measure how search results are ranked. It wouldn’t surprise me if they have already put this into their algorithms.
For any Internet Marketer or Business, this can just be another way to gain extra traffic in a viral way to your website/s. Don’t miss out. Anyone that needs and invite, please let me know comment below and I’ll send you one.
Here is my Google Plus profile – https://plus.google.com/107951945105803318264 – Not much to it and hoping I get a more friendly url liks my name or something instead of all those numbers. Maybe that’s how many have already registered!